UC-NI 


SB    31D    MSI 


of 
Washington 

Told  in  flie  Form 
ofan 

Auiobio  grapky 


S.Weip  Mitchell 


GIFT   ©F 
Prof.    C.    A.    Kofoid 


THE 
YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 


THE 

YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

TOLD  IN  THE  FORM  OF 
AN  AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


BY 


<  i  A, 


S.  WEIR  MITCHELL,  M.D, 


NEW  YORK 

THE  CENTURY  CO. 

1904 


Mb 


Copyright,  1904,  by 

CE.NTl.TI5Y,  Co. 


Published  October;  IQ04   ' 


THE   DEVINNE   PRESS 


TO 

JOHN   S.  BILLINGS 

IN   GRATEFUL   REMEMBRANCE   OF 

FORTY   YEARS   OF 

FRIENDSHIP 


M111572 


THE 
YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 


"And  if  I  have  done  well,  and  as  is  fitting  the  story,  it  is 
that  which  I  desired :  but  if  slenderly  and  meanly,  it  is  that 
which  I  could  attain  unto." — 2  Maccabees  xv.  38. 


THE 
YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 


DIARY  —  NOVEMBER,  47d7.;  i    . 


MY  retirement  from  official  duties  as 
President  has  enabled  me  to  restore 
order  on  my  plantations,  and  in  some  degree 
to  repair  the  neglected  buildings  which  are 
fallen  to  decay.  The  constant  coming  of 
guests— moved,  I  fear,  more  by  curiosity 
than  by  other  reasons— is  diminished  owing 
to  snows,  unusual  at  this  period  of  the  year. 
Owing  to  these  favouring  conditions,  I 
have  now  some  small  leisure  to  reflect  on 
a  life  which  has  been  too  much  one  of  action 
and  of  public  interests  to  admit,  hitherto,  of 
that  kind  of  retrospection  which  is  natural, 
and,  as  it  seems  to  me,  fitting  in  a  man  of  my 
years,  who  has  little  to  look  forward  to  and 
much  to  look  back  upon. 


4  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

My  recent  uneasiness  lest  I  should  be 
called  upon  to  conduct  a  war  against  our 
old  allies,  the  French,  is  much  abated,  and 
I  feel  more  free  to  consider  my  private 
affairs.  I  am  too  far  advanced  in  the  vale 
of  life  to  bear  much  buffeting,  and  I  have 
satisfaction  in  the  belief  we  have  escaped 
a  :aew;Ka;r  for  which  the  nation  has  not  yet 
the  ^trength.  For  sure  I  am,  if  this  coun 
try  is  preserved  in  tranquillity  twenty  years 
longer,  it  may  bid  defiance  in  a  just  cause 
to  any  powers  whatever,  such  in  that  time 
will  be  its  power,  wealth,  and  resources. 

Increasing  infirmity  and  too  frequent 
aches  and  ailments  remind  me  that  I  am 
nearing  the  awful  moment  when  I  must 
bid  adieu  to  sublunary  things,  and  appear 
before  that  Divine  Being  to  whom  alone 
my  country  owes  the  success  with  which  we 
have  been  blessed.  But  the  great  Disposer 
of  events  is  also  the  Being  who  has  formed 
the  instruments  of  his  will  and  left  them  re 
sponsible  to  the  arbitration  of  conscience. 
Therefore  I  have  of  late  spent  much  time  in 
considering  my  past  life,  and  how  it  might 
have  been  better  or  more  successful,  and  in 
thankfulness  that  it  has  escaped  many  pit 
falls. 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  5 

My  reflections  have  brought  back  to  mind 
a  remark  which  seems  to  me  just,  made  by 
my  aide,  Colonel  Tilghman,  a  man  more 
given  to  philosophic  reflection  than  I  have 
been.  He  asked  me  if  I  did  not  think  there 
was  something  providential  in  the  way  each 
period  of  my  life  had  been  an  education  for 
that  which  followed  it.  I  said  that  this  idea 
had  at  times  presented  itself  to  my  mind, 
and  when  I  betrayed  curiosity,  he  went  on 
to  say  that  my  very  early  education  in  self- 
reliance  and  my  training  as  a  surveyor  of 
wild  lands  had  fitted  me  for  frontier  war 
fare,  that  this  in  turn  had  prepared  me 
for  action  on  a  larger  stage,  and  that 
all  through  the  greater  war  my  necessities 
called  for  constant  dealing  with  political 
questions,  and  with  men  who  were  not  sol 
diers.  He  thought  that  this  had  in  turn 
educated  me  for  the  position  to  which 
my  countrymen  summoned  me  at  a  later 
time. 

As  I  was  silent  for  a  little,  this  gentleman, 
who  became  my  aide-de-camp  in  June,  1780, 
and  for  whom  I  conceived  a  warm  and  last 
ing  affection,  thinking  his  remark  might 
have  been  considered  a  liberty,  said  as  much, 
excusing  himself. 


6  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

I  replied  that,  so  far  from  annoying  me, 
I  found  what  he  had  to  say  interesting. 

When,  recently,  these  remarks  of  Colo 
nel  Tilghman  recurred  to  me,  I  felt  that 
they  wrere  correct,  and  dwelling  upon  them 
at  this  remote  time,  my  interest  in  the  se 
quence  of  the  events  of  my  youthful  life 
assumed  an  importance  which  has  led  me 
of  late  to  endeavour,  with  the  aid  of  my 
diaries,  to  refresh  my  memories  of  a  past 
which  had  long  ceased  to  engage  my  at 
tention. 

I  remember  writing  once  that  any  recol 
lections  of  my  later  life,  distinct  from  the 
general  history  of  the  war,  would  rather 
hurt  my  feelings  than  tickle  my  pride  while 
I  lived.  I  do  not  think  vanity  is  a  trait  of 
my  character.  I  would  rather  leave  pos 
terity  to  think  and  say  what  they  please  of 
me.  Those  who  served  with  me  in  war  and 
peace  will  be  judged  as  we  become  sub 
jects  of  history,  and  time  may  unfold  more 
than  prudence  ought  to  disclose.  Concern 
ing  this  matter  I  wrote  to  Colonel  Hum 
phreys  that  if  I  had  talent  for  what  he 
desired  me  to  do,  I  had  not  leisure  to  turn 
my  thoughts  to  commentaries.  Conscious 
ness  of  a  defective  education,  and  want  of 
leisure,  I  thought,  unfitted  me  for  such  an 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  7 

undertaking.  I  did,  however,  answer  cer 
tain  questions  put  to  me  by  Colonel  Hum 
phreys  concerning  the  Indian  wars,  but  he 
has,  so  far,  made  no  use  of  these  notes. 

One  of  these  considerations  does  not  so 
much  apply  at  present,  for  I  possess  the 
leisure,  and  in  recording  my  early  reminis 
cences  I  shall  do  so  for  myself  alone,  and 
assuredly  shall  find  no  satisfaction  in  com 
ments  on  the  conduct  of  other  officers  who, 
like  myself,  were  honestly  engaged  in  learn 
ing,  and  at  the  same  time  practising,  a  busi 
ness  in  which  none  of  us  h^d  a  large 
experience.  I  shall  confine  my  attention 
to  recalling  the  events  of  my  youth,  and 
as  I  hate  deception  even  where  the  imagi 
nation  only  is  concerned,  I  shall  try,  for 
my  own  satisfaction,  to  deal  merely  with 
facts.  General  Hamilton,  whose  remarks 
I  have  often  just  reason  to  remember,  once 
wrote  me  that  no  man  had  ever  written  a 
true  biography  of  himself,  that  he  was  apt 
to  blame  himself  excessively  or  to  be  too 
much  prone  to  self-defence.  He  went  on 
to  state  that  an  autobiography  was  written 
either  from  vanity  and  to  present  the  man 
favourably  to  posterity,  or  because  he  de 
sired  for  his  own  pleasure  in  the  study  of 
himself  to  recall  the  events  of  his  career. 


8  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

In  the  latter  case  there  is  no  need  of  pub 
lication. 

It  is  only  in  order  to  such  self-examina 
tion  as  that  to  which  he  refers  that  I  am 
induced  to  set  down  the  remembrances  of 
my  earlier  days,  and  because  writing  of 
them  will,  I  feel,  enable  me  more  surely  to 
bring  them  back  to  mind.  I  have  no  other 
motive. 

Whatever  just  ambitions  I  have  had  have 
been  fully  gratified ;  indeed,  far  beyond  my 
wishes.  The  great  Searcher  of  hearts  is  my 
witness  that  I  have  now  no  wish  which 
aspires  beyond  the  humble  and  happy  lot 
of  living  and  dying  a  private  citizen  on 
my  own  farm.  In  my  estimation,  more 
permanent  and  genuine  happiness  is  to  be 
found  in  the  sequestered  walks  of  connubial 
life,  so  long  denied  me  in  the  war,  than  in 
the  more  tumultuous  and  imposing  scenes 
of  successful  ambition.  Nor  can  I  complain. 
I  am  retiring  here  within  myself.  Envious 
of  none,  I  am  determined  to  be  pleased  with 
all;  and  with  heartfelt  satisfaction,  feeling 
that  my  life  has  been  on  the  whole  happy,  I 
will  move  gently  down  the  stream  until  I 
sleep  with  my  fathers. 

There  are  indeed  not  many  circumstances 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  9 

in  my  life  before  the  war  which  it  now  gives 
me  pain  to  recall.  I  could  not  truthfully  say 
this  of  that  great  contest,  nor  of  the  political 
struggles  of  my  service  as  President.  Mr. 
Adams,  or  perhaps  Mr.  Jefferson,  once  said 
of  me  that  I  was  a  man  too  sensitive  to  con 
demnation.  This  I  believe  to  be  correct,  but 
I  have  not  discovered  that  my  ability  to  de 
cide  was  ever  largely  affected  by  either  un 
reasonable  blame  or  the  bribes  of  flattery. 

The  treachery  of  men  who  professed  for 
me  friendship,  and  the  intrigues  of  those 
who,  like  Conway,  Lee,  Gates,  and  Rush, 
used  ignoble  means  to  weaken  my  authority 
when  it  was  of  the  utmost  importance  to  our 
common  cause  that  it  should  be  strength 
ened,  were  calculated  to  give  pain  chiefly 
because  they  lessened  my  usefulness.  Nor 
am  I  ever  willing  to  dwell  upon  the  treason 
of  Arnold,  which  cost  me  the  most  painful 
duty  of  the  war,  and  lost  to  the  country  a 
great  soldier,  who  had  not  the  virtue  to 
wait  until,  in  the  course  of  events,  his  ser 
vices  would  obtain  their  reward.  It  is,  how 
ever,  somewhat  to  be  wondered  at  that  in  so 
long  a  war,  where  hope  did  at  times  seem 
to  disappear,  the  catalogue  of  traitors  was 
so  small.  It  is  strange  that  there  were  not 


10  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

more,  for  few  men  have  virtue  to  withstand 
the  highest  bidder.  As  to  ill-natured  and 
unjust  reflections  on  my  conduct,  I  feel,  and 
have  felt,  everything  that  hurts  the  sensi 
bility  of  a  gentleman,  but  to  persevere  in 
one's  duty  and  be  silent  is  the  best  answer 
to  calumny. 

Dr.  Franklin  has  wisely  said  that  no 
examples  are  so  useful  to  a  man  as  those 
which  his  own  conduct  affords,  and  that 
he  was  right  in  his  opinion  I  have  reason 
to  believe.  This  I  have  observed  to  be  true 
of  anger,  to  which  I  am,  or  was,  subject. 
I  flatter  myself  that  I  have  now  learned  to 
command  my  temper,  although  it  is  still  on 
rare  occasions  likely  to  become  mutinous.  I 
do  not  observe  that  mere  abuse  ever  troubles 
me  long,  but  in  the  presence  of  cowardice 
or  ingratitude  I  am  subject  to  fits  of  rage. 

Arnold's  treason  distressed  me,  but  the 
treachery  of  one  of  my  cabinet,  Edmund 
Randolph,  the  nephew  and  adopted  son  of 
my  dear  friend  Peyton  Randolph,  disturbed 
my  temper  as  nothing  had  done  since  the 
misconduct  of  Lee  at  Monmouth.  If  in  any 
instance  I  was  swayed  by  personal  and  pri 
vate  feelings  in  the  exercise  of  official 
patronage  and  power,  it  was  in  the  case  of 


THE  YOUTH  OF   WASHINGTON  11 

Mr.  Randolph;  and  this  fact  added  to  the 
anger  which  his  conduct  excited. 

I  willingly  turn  from  the  remembrance 
of  ingratitude,  a  sin  that  my  soul  abhors. 
It  is  a  severe  tax  which  all  must  occasion 
ally  pay  who  are  called  to  eminent  stations 
of  trust,  not  only  to  be  held  up  as  con 
spicuous  marks  to  the  enmity  of  the  public 
adversaries  of  their  country,  but  to  the 
malice  of  secret  traitors,  and  the  envious 
intrigues  of  false  friends  and  factions.  But 
all  this  is  over.  I  willingly  leave  time  and 
my  country  to  pronounce  the  verdict  of 
history. 

As  I  wrote  what  just  now  I  have  set  down, 
a  remark  of  Mr.  John  Adams  came  into  my 
mind.  He  said  it  was  difficult  for  a  man  to 
write  about  himself  without  feeling  that  he 
was  all  the  time  in  the  presence  of  an  audi 
ence.  This  may  be  true  of  Mr.  Adams,  but 
I  am  not  aware  that  it  is  true  of  me. 

The  statement  I  shall  now  record  of 
myself  and  for  myself  might  be  made  very 
full  as  to  events  by  the  use  of  the  details 
of  my  diaries,  but  this  I  desire  to  avoid.  My 
intention  is  to  deal  chiefly  with  my  own 
youthful  life  and  the  influences  which  af 
fected  it  for  good  or  for  ill. 


II 


BEING  without  children  to  transmit  my 
name,  I  have  taken  no  great  interest  in 
learning  much  about  my  ancestors.  I  have, 
indeed,  been  too  much  concerned  with  larger 
matters.  It  is,  however,  far  from  my  design 
to  believe  that  heraldry,  coat-armour,  etc., 
might  not  be  rendered  conducive  to  public 
and  private  uses  with  us,  or  that  they  can 
have  any  tendency  unfriendly  to  the  purest 
spirit  of  republicanism ;  nor  does  it  seem  to 
me  that  pride  in  being  come  of  gentry  and 
of  dutiful  and  upright  men  is  without  its 
value,  if  we  draw  from  an  honourable  past 
nourishment  to  sustain  us  in  continuing  to 
be  what  our  forefathers  were.  This  also 
should  make  men  who  have  children  the 
more  careful  as  to  their  own  manner  of  life, 
and  as  for  myself,  although  denied  this 
great  blessing,  I  may  perhaps  wisely  have 
been  destined  to  feel  that  all  my  country 
men  were  to  me  something  more  than  my 
fellow-citizens. 

12 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  13 

I  have  heard  my  half-brother  Lawrence 
say  that  he  had  learned  from  his  elders 
that  my  English  ancestors  were  violent 
Loyalists,  especially  one  Sir  Henry  Wash 
ington,  when  the  great  struggle  arose  be 
tween  the  Parliament  and  the  King  in  the 
time  of  the  Commonwealth. 

I  recall  that,  when  a  young  man,  I  was 
riding  with  my  friend  George  Mason,  and 
when  this  matter  arose,  and  he  asked  me 
whether  if  I  had  lived  in  those  days  I  should 
have  been  for  the  crown  or  the  commons,  I 
replied  that  if  I  had  lived  in  that  time  I 
could  have  answered  him,  but  that  I  was  not 
enough  informed  concerning  that  period  to 
be  able  to  state  on  which  side  I  should  have 
been.  Certainly  I  should  have  found  it  hard 
to  make  war  on  the  King. 

I  profess  myself  to  be  ignorant  as  to 
much  that  concerns  my  ancestry.  When  too 
young  to  have  the  smallest  interest  in  the 
matter,  I  heard  my  two  half-brothers  and 
William  Fairfax  conversing  on  the  subject 
of  the  origin  of  my  family.  The  brothers 
were  not  very  clear  as  to  our  descent,  but 
were  of  opinion  that  we  came  of  the  Wash- 
ingtons  of  Sulgrave,  originally  of  Lanca 
shire.  In  1791  the  Garter  king-at-arms,  Sir 


14  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

Isaac  Heard,  wrote  to  me,  sending  a  pedi 
gree  of  my  family ;  but  I  had  to  confess  it 
was  a  subject  to  which  I  had  given  very  lit 
tle  attention ;  in  fact,  except  as  to  our  later 
history,  I  could  only  say  that  we  came  from 
Lancashire,  Yorkshire,  or  some  still  more 
northerly  county. 

Most  of  the  early  colonists  of  all  classes 
were  too  busy  in  fighting  Indians  and  rais 
ing  the  means  of  living  to  concern  them 
selves  with  the  relatives  left  in  England. 
This  indifference  was  not  uncommon  among 
us,  and  was  in  those  early  days  to  be  ex 
pected.  It  explains  why  we  and  other  de 
scendants  of  settlers  knew,  and  indeed 
cared,  too  little  about  our  ancestors. 

I  do  not  know  what  exactly  was  the  sta 
tion  of  the  father  of  the  brothers  who  first 
came  over— John,  my  ancestor,  and  Law 
rence,  his  brother.  It  is  of  more  moment 
to  me  to  know  that  my  forefathers  in  this 
country  have  been  gentlemen,  and  have  in 
many  positions  of  trust,  both  in  civil  employ 
and  in  the  military  line,  served  the  colonies 
and,  later,  their  country  with  faithfulness 
and  honour. 

As  concerns  the  question  of  ancestry  and 
a  man's  judging  of  himself  by  that  alone, 


THE  YOUTH  OF   WASHINGTON  15 

I  am  much  of  Colonel  Tilghman's  opinion, 
who  once  said  to  me,  speaking  of  Mr.  B—  — , 
that  when  a  man  had  to  look  back  upon  his 
ancestors  to  make  himself  sure  he  was  a  gen 
tleman,  he  was  hut  a  poor  sort  of  man,  which 
I  conceive  to  be  true. 

My  great-grandfather,  John  Washington, 
the  first  emigrant  of  our  name,  was  the  son 
of  Lawrence  and  Amphilis,  his  wife.  He 
went  first  to  the  Barbados,  but,  not  being 
pleased,  came  later  to  Virginia;  that  is,  in 
1657. 

It  is  certain  that  my  great-grandfather 
in  some  respects  possessed  qualities  which 
resembled  those  which  I  myself  possess. 
He  was  a  man  of  great  personal  strength, 
inclined  to  war,  very  resolute,  and  of  a  mas 
terful  and  very  violent  temper.  He  was 
accused  in  1675  of  too  severe  treatment  of 
the  Indians  in  the  frontier  wars  against  the 
Susquehannocks,  for  which  he  was  repri 
manded  by  Sir  William  Berkeley,  but,  it  is 
said,  unjustly.  He  was  a  man  had  in  es 
teem  and  most  respectable,  and  held  a  seat 
in  the  Assembly  in  1670.  He  was  also  of  a 
nature  greatly  moved  by  injustice,  for  on  his 
voyage  to  Virginia  a  poor  woman  on  board 
the  ship  was  hanged  for  a  witch,  and  he 


16  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

made  great  efforts,  on  being  come  ashore,  to 
have  the  master  and  crew  punished.  I  find 
in  myself  the  same  anger  at  injustice. 

It  is  proper  to  add  that  there  was  current 
in  the  colony  a  story  that,  on  account  of 
his  rigour  with  the  Indians,  he  was  called 
by  them  Conocatorius,  which,  Englished, 
means  a  Destroyer  of  Villages.  The  Half- 
King,  an  Indian  chief  so  called,  hearing  my 
name  when  first  we  met,  addressed  me  by 
this  title.  There  must  have  been  among 
these  tribes  a  remembrance  or  tradition  as 
to  the  name,  for  certainly  I  never  deserved 
it,  and  that  after  so  long  a  time  it  should 
have  been  remembered  appears  to  me 
strange. 

My  great-grandf ather  's  brother  Law 
rence  was  engaged  for  a  time  in  the  mer 
cantile  way,  and  at  one  time  signed  himself 
as  of  Luton,  County  Bradford,  merchant. 
He  made  some  voyages  to  Virginia  and 
home  again  before  he  settled  in  the  colony, 
and  may  have  acquired  land  in  England, 
for,  as  I  shall  state  later,  he  devised  real 
estate  in  the  home  country. 

As  I  speak  of  the  home  country,  I  am 
reminded  that  even  after  the  War  of  Inde 
pendency  the  habit  of  speaking  of  England 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  17 

as  home  prevailed  with  many,  so  strong 
was  the  attachment  to  the  mother  country ; 
and,  indeed,  nothing  but  the  folly  of  Great 
Britain  could  have  broken  the  bonds  which 
united  us. 

My  great-grandfather,  John  Washing 
ton,  brought  with  him  a  wife  from  England. 
Her  maiden  name  I  do  not  know.  She  and 
her  two  children  died  within  a  few  years 
of  his  landing.  The  brothers  mention  in 
their  wills  property  in  England,  but  where 
or  exactly  what  it  was  they  do  not  say.  It 
would  seem,  therefore,  that  it  was  not  pov 
erty  which  drove  my  ancestor  to  emigrate. 
That  this  property  was  not  mere  money, 
the  proceeds  of  tobacco,  appears  to  be 
shown  by  the  will  of  my  great-grandfather 's 
brother  Lawrence,  who  devised  to  Mary,  his 
daughter,  his  whole  estate  in  England,  real 
as  well  as  personal. 

My  great-grandfather  married  secondly 
the  widow  of  Walter  Broadhurst,  daughter 
of  Nathaniel  Pope  of  Appomattocks,  gen 
tleman.  My  grandfather  Lawrence  was  the 
first  born  of  this  marriage.  My  great 
grandfather  died  in  1677.  He  was  of  that 
importance  as  to  have  named  for  him  the 
parish  in  which  he  resided.  The  brothers 


18  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

were  not  the  only  ones  of  the  name  who 
came  to  Virginia.  There  was  also  a  cousin, 
Martha  Washington.  She  emigrated  to  Vir 
ginia  and  married  Nicholas  Hayward  of 
Westmoreland.  How  it  was  that,  being  a 
spinster,  she  came  over  alone,  I  am  not  in 
formed.  She  left  her  property  to  her  cou 
sins  John  and  Lawrence,  and  a  gold  twenty- 
shilling  piece  to  each,  and  to  their  sons 
each  a  feather  bed  and  furniture,  and  to 
their  heirs  forever — which  does  appear  to 
me  long  for  a  bed  to  last. 

There  were  also  others,  but  if  related  I 
have  not  felt  concerned  to  inquire.  They 
spelled  the  name  Vysington  in  certain 
deeds,  which  I  have  heard  was  the  ancient 
manner  of  spelling  it.  Of  them  I  know 
nothing  further.  My  great-grandfather  left 
a  legacy  to  the  rector  of  the  lower  church  of 
Washington  parish,  and  ordered  that  a  fu 
neral  sermon  be  preached,  which  appears  to 
me,  as  Lord  Fairfax  said,  to  be  a  certain 
way  to  secure  being  well  spoken  of,  at  least 
once,  after  death.  He  also  provided  in  his 
will  for  a  tablet  of  the  Ten  Commandments, 
and  also  the  king's  arms,  to  be  set  up  in  the 
church  of  his  parish. 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  19 

He  may  have  been  led  to  come  to  Vir 
ginia  by  the  fact  that  it  had  become  for 
men  loyal  to  the  crown  and  to  the  Church 
of  England  a  refuge  such  as  the  Puritans 
sought  in  Massachusetts.  We  have  ever 
since  been  connected  with  that  Church,  nor 
have  I  found  reason  to  depart  from  it.  At 
times  I  have  been  a  vestryman,  but  this  was 
in  those  days  also  a  civil  office,  having  judi 
cial  duties,  such  as  charge  of  the  schools  and 
of  the  poor  of  the  parish. 

My  connection  with  the  Church  of  my 
fathers  has  varied  in  interest  from  time  to 
time,  for,  although  I  have  at  times  partaken 
of  the  sacrament  and  even  fasted,  I  have 
not  always  felt  so  inclined,  although  I  have 
with  reasonable  punctuality  attended  upon 
the  services.  I  have  had  all  my  life  a  dis 
inclination  to  converse  on  this  subject,  and 
confess,  as  Dr.  Franklin  once  remarked  to 
me,  that  "silence  is  sometimes  wisdom  as 
concerns  a  man's  creed. " 

In  considering  so  much  of  my  family  his 
tory  as  is  known  to  me,  I  perceive  that  men 
married  at  an  early  age  and  remained  no 
long  time  widowers.  Also  I  observe  that 
many  children  died  young,  as  was  like 


20  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

enough  to  happen  on  plantations  remote 
from  physicians,  and  indeed  these  were  few 
in  number  and  not  as  good  as  in  the  north 
ern  colonies. 

I  know  less  of  my  grandfather  Lawrence 
than  of  his  father.  He  did  not  increase  the 
importance  of  the  family,  neither  was  he 
inclined  to  public  business.  He  was,  as  I 
have  understood,  a  quiet,  thrifty  man,  and 
no  seeker  of  adventure  by  land  or  water. 
He  married  Mildred  Warner,  by  whom  he 
had  children,  and  died  leaving  a  competent 
estate,  but  none  to  be  compared  with  the 
great  lands  accumulated  by  the  Byrds  or 
Carters. 

I  conceive  him  to  have  been  a  person  of 
moderate  opinions  concerning  the  Church 
of  England,  and  as  one  who  may  have  con 
sidered  the  dissenting  sects  as  ill  used.  This 
I  gather  from  a  book  given  to  me  three 
years  ago  by  a  gentleman  of  Philadelphia, 
of  the  Society  of  Friends,  who  would  have 
had  me  to  believe  that  my  grandfather  was 
of  that  sect.  This  book  is  the  life  of  one 
John  Fothergill,  a  Quaker  preacher,  who 
says  that  in  1720  he  "held  a  meeting  at  Mat 
tocks,  at  Justice  Washington's,  a  friendly 
man,  where  the  Love  of  God  opened  my 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  21 

heart  toward  the  people,  much  to  my  com 
fort  and  their  satisfaction."  I  do  not  sup 
pose  it  to  have  meant  more  than  that,  as  the 
church  could  not  be  used  by  a  dissenter,  Jus 
tice  Washington  willingly  gave  the  good 
man  the  use  of  his  own  house. 


Ill 


MY  father,  Augustine,  was  born  in  1694, 
on  the  plantation  known  as  Wake- 
field,  granted,  in  1667,  to  his  grandfather, 
and  lying  between  Bridges7  and  Pope's 
creeks,  in  Westmoreland,  on  the  north  neck 
between  the  Potomac  and  the  Rappahan- 
nock.  My  father,  in  his  will,  says :  i  i  For 
asmuch  as  my  several  children  in  this  my 
will  mentioned,  being  by  several  Ventures, 
cannot  inherit  from  one  another, "  etc. 

What  he  speaks  of  as  his  "  Ventures " 
were  his  two  marriages.  A  venture  does  ap 
pear  to  me  to  be  an  appropriate  name  for 
the  uncertain  state  of  matrimony.  The  first 
' '  venture ' '  was  Jane  Butler,  who  lies  buried 
at  Wakefield.  Of  her  four  children  two 
survived— that  is,  my  half-brothers  Law 
rence  and  Augustine,  whom  we  called  Aus 
tin.  I  was  the  first  child  of  my  father's 
second  "venture,"  and  my  mother  was 
Mary  Ball.  I  was  born  at  Wakefield,1  on 

1  This  estate  was  bought  by  my  father  from  his 
brother  John. 

22 


YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  23 

February  11  [0.  S.],  1732,  about  ten  in  the 
morning.  I  was  baptized  in  the  Pope's 
Creek  church,  and  had  two  godfathers  and 
one  godmother,  Mildred  Gregory.  Mr. 
Beverly  Whiting  and  Mr.  Christopher 
Brooks  were  my  godfathers.  I  do  not  re 
call  ever  seeing  Mr.  Whiting,  although  his 
son,  of  the  same  name,  I  met  in  after  years. 
Of  Mr.  Brooks  I  know  nothing,  nor  do  I 
know  which  one  of  the  two  gave  me  the 
silver  cups  which  it  was  then  the  custom  for 
the  godfather  to  give  to  the  godson.  I  still 
have  them.  I  was  told  by  a  silversmith  in 
Philadelphia  that  the  cups  are  of  Irish 
make,  and  of  about  1720.  There  were  six  of 
these  mugs,  in  order  to  be  used  for  punch 
when  the  child  grew  up. 

The  Balls  were  respectable,  and  came 
out  first  as  merchants.  My  maternal  grand 
mother  we  know  to  have  been  Mary  John 
son,  of  English  birth,  but  of  her  family 
nothing  more.  At  a  later  time  the  older 
planter  families,  both  with  us  and  in  the 
West  Indies,  paid  more  attention  to  their 
ancestry,  sometimes,  it  is  to  be  feared,  with 
pretensions  which  had  no  just  foundation. 

Many  assumed  arms  to  which  they  were 
not  entitled,  or,  like  Mr.  J n,  commis- 


24  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

sioned  an  agent  in  London  to  purchase 
some  heraldic  device,  having  Mr.  Sterne's 
word  for  it  that  "a  coat  of  arms  may  be 
purchased  as  cheap  as  any  other  coat." 

I  have  had  some  reason  to  believe  that 
our  friends  did  not  regard  my  mother's 
family,  being  in  the  mercantile  line,  as  on 
the  same  social  level  as  our  own.  But,  in 
fact,  we  ourselves  were  not  until  a  later 
day  considered  as  of  the  highest  class  of 
Virginia  gentry.  Why  this  was  I  do  not 
fully  know.  It  is  certain,  however,  that 
nowhere  were  aristocratic  pretensions  and 
the  distinctions  of  social  rank  more  marked 
than  in  Virginia.  For  a  long  time  families 
like  the  Lees,  Byrds,  Carys,  Masons,  etc., 
regarded  themselves  as  superior  to  other 
planter  families,  of  as  good  or  better 
blood. 

The  lines  of  social  rank  among  us  I  judge 
to  have  been  made  early  to  depend  on  extent 
of  landed  property,  so  that  the  owners  of 
these  vast  estates  were  like  great  nabobs, 
and  by  having  seats  and  control  in  the  gov 
ernor's  council  and  the  House  of  Burgesses 
obtained  large  influence.  They  were  at 
pains  to  defend  their  pretensions  by  a  law 
of  primogeniture,  which  made  entails  so 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  25 

strict  that  they  could  not  be  broken,  as  in 
England,  by  agreement  of  father  and  son, 
but  required  to  break  them,  in  each  case,  an 
act  of  the  Assembly.  Families  like  our  own 
were  regarded  rather  as  minor  gentry,  and 
were,  for  a  time,  owing  in  a  measure  to  their 
having  but  moderate  estates,  looked  down 
upon  by  certain  of  the  great  proprietors 
of  enormous  plantations  and  numberless 
slaves. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  reason,  or 
the  reasons,  I  was  more  than  once  made  to 
feel  the  fact  that  I  was  not  looked  upon 
as  an  equal  by  certain  of  these  gentlemen, 
and  this  at  an  age  when  men  are  sensitive 
to  such  considerations. 

My  father,  Augustine,  has  been  described 
as  a  good  planter  and  a  man  of  energy.  I 
apprehend  that  he  was  of  a  serious  tendency, 
for  Lawrence,  my  brother,  once  gave  me  to 
understand  that  most  of  the  few  books  at 
Wakefield  were  religious;  but  whether  this 
was  so  or  not  I  do  not  know.  Like  some  of 
the  rest  of  us,  my  father  had  a  high  and 
quick  temper,  which,  as  he  used  to  say,  he 
had  to  keep  muzzled.  I  remember  being  ter 
rified  at  seeing  him  in  a  storm  of  anger 
because  the  clergyman  who  was  to  have  bap- 


26  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

tized  my  sister  Mildred  was  too  much  in 
liquor  to  perform  the  ceremony. 

About  the  year  1724  he  became  inter 
ested  in  the  mining  of  iron  ore  with  the 
Principio  Company,  in  which  the  venturers 
were  chiefly  English.  A  furnace  was  opened 
on  his  estate  in  Stafford  County.  It  was 
confiscated  in  1780  as  rebel  property.  He 
had  a  contract  for  hauling  the  ore  from  the 
mines,  and  later  commanded  a  ship  for  the 
taking  of  iron  to  England  and  the  fetching 
back  of  convict  labourers.  On  this  account, 
I  apprehend,  he  was  known  as  Captain 
Washington.  He  was,  I  have  understood,  a 
man  of  enterprising  nature  and  better  in 
formed  than  most  planters  of  his  time. 

He  was  educated  at  Appleby  in  England, 
near  Whitehaven.  I  have  often  regretted 
that  I  never  had  his  opportunities,  or  those 
of  my  brothers,  in  the  way  of  education. 
The  fact  of  my  being  a  younger  son  and  my 
father's  death,  and  also  my  mother's  over- 
fondness,  may  have  stood  in  the  way,  and  on 
this  and  other  occasions  interfered  with  my 
own  plans  or  with  those  of  others  for  me. 

I  did  not  take  after  my  mother  in  ap 
pearance,  and  I  had  the  large  frame  and 
strength  of  my  father.  In  other  respects 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  27 

also  I  was  somewhat  like  him  in  my  mind 
and  character. 

When  in  later  years  I  returned  to  visit 
Wakefield  I  used  to  fancy  I  remembered 
it.  This  I  could  not  have  done,  as  I  was 
only  three  years  old  when,  because  of  the 
unhealthfulness  of  the  place,  my  father 
moved  away.  The  house  was  burned  down 
on  Christmas  eve,  1779.  It  was  of  wood, 
with  brick  foundations,  and  had  eight  bed 
rooms.  There  was  an  underground  dairy, 
a  great  garden  with  fig-trees  and  other  fruit, 
and  along  the  shores  were  wild  flowering 
grapes  and  laurel  and  honeysuckle  and 
sweetbrier  roses,  very  fragrant  in  the  spring 
season.  Here  in  the  middle  of  a  great  field 
lie  my  ancestors  and  some  of  the  children  of 
my  father 's  first  marriage. 

In  the  year  1735  we  moved,  as  I  have 
said,  fifty  miles  higher  up  the  Potomac  to 
the  estate  then  known  as  Epsewasson  or 
Hunting  Creek.  This  was  given,  with  other 
land,  by  the  colony  to  my  great-grandfather 
and  Colonel  Spencer  for  importing  an  hun 
dred  labourers,  and  was  bought  by  my  fa 
ther  in  1726  from  my  aunt  Mildred  Gregory, 
later  my  godmother.  It  came  afterwards  to 
be  called  Mount  Vernon.  It  was  at  that  time 


28  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

in  Prince  William  County,  which  my  father 
represented  in  the  House  of  Burgesses,  as 
my  brother  did  later.  There  we  remained 
until  1739. 

In  this  year  our  house  took  fire,  as  was 
supposed,  by  the  act  of  one  of  our  slaves,  but 
never  surely,  ascertained.  We  were  then 
obliged  to  remove,  and  this  time  settled  in 
Stafford,  formerly  St.  George,  on  the  east 
bank  of  the  Rappahannock,  opposite  to 
Fredericksburg. 

This  residence  was  a  two-story  house  on 
a  rise  of  ground,  with  a  fertile  meadow 
sloping  gently  to  the  river.  It  was  built  of 
wood  and  painted  red.  There,  as  people 
well-to-do,  we  lived  until  my  father's  death, 
when  the  division  of  his  estate  did  some 
what  lessen  the  easiness  of  our  lives;  and 
of  these  latter  years  I  can  recall  some  more 
or  less  distinct  remembrances,  for  here  my 
education  began. 


IV 


WHILE  I  was  a  child,  my  father,  as  I 
have  said,  made  many  voyages  to 
England  and  fetched  back  with  him  con 
victs,  and  perhaps  also  indentured  servants. 
Often  in  those  days  some  of  the  unfortunate 
people  thus  sent  to  the  colonies  were  under 
sentence  for  political  offences,  but  many,  of 
course,  for  crimes.  One  of  these,  a  convict 
I  was  told,  was  my  first  schoolmaster.  We 
called  him  Hobby,  which  was,  I  believe, 
a  nickname;  but  he  was  named  Grove,  and 
was  sexton  of  the  Ealmouth  church,  two 
miles  away.  Of  what  our  sexton  school 
master  had  been  convicted  I  never  heard, 
but  of  this  I  am  assured,  that  my  father 
would  not  have  used  as  a  schoolmaster  a 
common  thief.  I  used  to  ride  the  two  miles 
to  the  " field-school/7  as  they  called  it,  in 
front  of  a  slave  named  Peter,  and  later  was 
allowed  a  pony,  to  my  mother 's  alarm  when 
he  would  tumble  me  off,  as  happened  now 

29 


30  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

and  then.  Hobby  was  a  short  man,  with  one 
eye,  and  too  good-humoured  or  too  timid  to 
be  a  good  teacher,  even  of  the  a-b-c's  and 
the  little  else  we  learned. 

My  father  was  kind  to  this  man,  and  per 
haps  knew  his  history.  He  would  even  have 
allowed  him  the  use  of  the  rod,  with  the  aid 
of  which  I  might  have  profited  more  largely, 
for  I  am  of  his  opinion  that  children  should 
be  strictly  brought  up.  Hobby,  being  of  a 
humourous  turn,  seems  to  me,  as  I  remember 
him,  to  have  resembled  the  grave-digger  in 
the  play  of  "Hamlet."  He  sometimes 
amused  and  at  other  times  terrified  us  by 
tales  of  London  or  of  his  recent  life  as  a  sex 
ton.  He  believed  many  of  the  negro  super 
stitions—as  that  if  a  snake's  head  was  cut 
off  the  tail  would  live  until  it  thundered— 
and  was  much  afraid  of  having  what  he 
called  black  magic  put  upon  him  by  the 
negroes. 

I  did  not  learn  much  from  Hobby  and 
preferred  to  be  out  of  doors.  My  father 
considered,  I  believe,  that,  as  I  was  a 
younger  son  and  must  in  some  way  support 
myself,  I  should  be  well  trained  in  both 
mind  and  body,  and  had  he  lived  the  chance 
of  the  former  might  have  been  bettered. 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  31 

The  latter  was  often  made  difficult  by  my 
mother,  who  was  unhappy  when  I  was  sub 
ject  to  the  risks  to  which  all  lads  of  spirit 
are  exposed.  I  remember  that,  when  later 
my  father  wa$  teaching  me  to  leap  my  pony, 
the  pony  refused  over  and  over,  and  this 
being  near  to  the  house,  my  mother  ran  out, 
and  at  last  had  a  kind  of  hysterick  turn.  My 
father  sat  still  on  a  big  stallion  and  took  no 
notice  of  her  entreaties.  At  last  I  got  the 
pony  over,  and  he  fell  with  me.  I  jumped 
up  and  was  in  the  saddle  in  a  moment.  My 
father  said  that  was  ill  ridden,  I  must  try  it 
again;  and  upon  this  my  mother  ran  back 
to  the  house,  crying  out  I  would  be  mur 
dered.  But  my  father  was  this  manner  of 
man ;  he  hated  defeat,  while  my  mother  was 
ever  desirous  of  keeping  me  out  of  danger, 
because  it  made  her  uncomfortable ;  and  this 
was  strange,  for  I  have  never  been  able  to 
see  that  she  was  greatly  pleased  when  I  was 
successful,  or  was  much  moved  by  what  the 
great  Master  allowed  me  to  attain  in  later 
years. 

My  elder  brothers,  Lawrence  and  Augus 
tine,  were  both  at  different  times  sent  to 
England  for  education  at  Appleby  School, 
near  Whitehaven,  when  I  was  a  child.  Law- 


32  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

rence  had  the  family  liking  for  enterprises 
and  martial  employment.  I  was  eight  years 
old,  and  he  of  age,  when  Lawrence  served 
with  Admiral  Vernon  and  General  Went- 
worth  in  the  disastrous  attack  on  Carta 
gena.  I  remember  as  a  boy  the  interest  this 
expedition  caused  in  our  neighbourhood.  It 
was  said  that  Harry  Beverley  and  other 
Virginians  captured  by  the  Spaniards  had 
been  made  to  work  as  slaves,  and  this 
stirred  up  much  feeling  among  us.  The  ex- 
Governor  Spottiswood,  although  an  aged 
man,  would  have  gone  as  a  major-general, 
but  died  suddenly  at  Temple  Farm,  near 
Yorktown,  where  forty- two  years  later  Lord 
Cornwallis  met  me  to  sign  the  capitula 
tions. 

Lawrence  was  away  two  years.  The  let 
ters  wrote  by  him  to  my  father  were  full 
of  interest,  and,  as  I  remember,  were  the 
means  of  arousing  in  me,  who  was  but  a 
little  lad,  the  liking  for  warfare,  of  which 
we  all  had  a  share. 

I  can  remember  how,  as  we  sat  about  the 
hearth  at  evening,  my  father  read  aloud 
to  us  these  letters,  and  explained  to  me  the 
military  terms  used,  and  why,  for  want  of 
foresight,  the  gallantry  of  soldiers  and  sail- 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  33 

ors  served  only  to  give  opportunity  for  loss 
of  life.  This  was  especially  in  connection 
with  the  last  letter  we  received,  after  the  dis 
mal  failure  of  the  attack  on  Cartagena.  He 
wrote : 

HONOURED  AND  DEAR  FATHER  :  What  with  dis 
sensions  between  the  General  Wentworth  and 
Admiral  Vernon,  who  was,  as  we  think,  not  to 
blame,  we  have  come  away,  leaving  the  Spaniards 
to  crow,  and  our  Colonel  Gooch  ill  at  Jamaica. 
When  I  am  to  have  another  dose  of  glory  I  pray 
to  have  better  doctors. 

We  were  to  storm  Fort  Lazaro — which  must 
mean  Lazarus— at  night.  But  we  were  too  long 
getting  there,  or  the  guides  treacherous,  and  the 
ladders  too  short  and  no  sufficient  breach.  This 
Lazarus  fort  was  too  much  alive,  but  we  were  ac 
tually  on  the  rampart  when  Colonel  Grant  was 
killed,  and  we  were  driven  back  in  sad  confusion, 
and  half  of  us,  a  good  thousand,  killed  or  wounded 
for  want  of  forethought.  I  came  off  with  no  more 
hurt  than  to  be  so  spent  that  I  had  no  breath 
to  curse  the  folly  for  which  so  many  brave  men 
died.  The  climate  was  worse  than  the  dons,  and 
we  took  ship  with  our  tails  between  our  legs  and 
some  two  thousand  shaking  with  agues  and  racked 
with  fever. 

When  I  heard  this  I  jumped  up  and  said 
I  wished  I  could  have  been  there,  upon 


34  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

which  my  father  laughed  and  said  I  was 
better  off  where  I  was,  and  my  mother  that 
I  had  better  go  to  bed. 

I  was  at  that  age  when  lads  of  spirit  are 
apt  to  ask  questions,  and  concerning  these 
my  father  was  always  patient,  and  encour 
aged  a  reasonable  curiosity;  but,  on  the 
other  hand,  my  mother  disliked  this  habit  of 
curiosity,  and  when  my  father  talked  of  In 
dian  wars  and  of  my  brother's  fine  conduct 
at  Cartagena  she  was  sure  to  say  I  should 
never  go  to  war.  My  father  would  reply 
that  it  was  sometimes  the  business  and  also 
the  duty  of  a  gentleman,  and  then  there  was 
no  greater  pleasure  than  to  hear  over  and 
over  how  Sir  Henry  Washington,  said  to  be 
of  our  family,  defended  Worcester  in  the 
civil  war  in  England. 

In  those  days  all  the  world  was  at  war, 
and  with  us  there  was  always  the  dread  of 
Indian  outbreaks.  It  was  no  wonder  that 
I  and  other  little  fellows  at  Hobby's  school 
played  at  soldiering.  A  lad  named  William 
Bustle,  a  fat,  sturdy  boy,  was  commander 
of  the  Indians,  and  in  the  woods  we  imi 
tated  the  red  men  and  the  frontier  farmers, 
and  passed  from  tree  to  tree  throwing 
stones,  or,  in  winter,  snowballs,  with  mock 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  35 

scalping  and  much  pulling  of  hair,  which 
was  worn  long.  This  was  interfered  with 
one  winter  because  Bustle  hit  me  in  the 
eye  with  a  snowball  in  which  was  a  stone, 
a  thing  not  considered  fair.  My  mother 
wished  Bustle  punished.  My  father  said  I 
must  take  care  of  my  own  quarrels,  and 
this  I  did,  for,  being  then  ten  years  old, 
and  very  strong,  as  soon  as  I  went  back 
to  school  I  gave  Bustle  a  good  beating. 
In  fact,  I  was  of  unusual  strength,  and  be 
cause  of  my  violence  of  temper  felt  no 
hurt,  and  would  not  listen  when  Bustle 
called,  t  i  Enough. ' '  My  mother 's  uncertain 
discipline  and  her  too  affectionate  weak 
ness  did  me  great  harm.  For  if  my  father 
punished  me  on  account  of  disobedience  or 
outbursts  of  temper,  my  mother  was  sure 
to  interfere,  or  to  coddle  and  pity  me,  a 
thing  I  greatly  disliked.  I  never  learned 
much  self-control  until  a  later  day,  which, 
in  its  place,  I  shall  call  to  mind. 

My  sister  Betty,  who  afterwards  married 
Fielding  Lewis,  was,  next  to  my  half-brother 
Lawrence  and  my  brother  Jack,  most  dear 
to  me.  Samuel  had  some  of  the  weaknesses 
of  my  mother,  and  Charles,  in  later  days, 
some  worse  ones  of  his  own.  In  after  life 


36  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

Samuel  was  often  in  debt,  and  was  married 
five  times,  being  extravagant  in  this  as  in 
all  other  ways.  Mildred  was  sadly  affected 
from  birth  and  died  young.  It  was  unfor 
tunate  for  me  that  while  I  was  a  child  my 
half-brothers  were  sent  from  home  and  put 
in  charge  of  the  plantations  of  Wakefield 
and  of  Mount  Vernon,  which  had  been  re 
built  and  given  the  name  of  the  admiral 
whom  Lawrence  much  admired. 


IN  1742  Lawrence  came  from  Cartagena, 
and  meant  to  continue  in  the  service, 
but,  after  our  sudden  way,  he  fell  in  love 
with  Anne,  the  daughter  of  William  Fairfax 
of  Belvoir,  our  neighbour,  the  cousin  and 
agent  of  my  lord  of  that  name,  and  this, 
luckily  for  my  own  character,  ended  his 
desire  for  a  military  life.  I  too  well  recall 
the  event  which  delayed  his  marriage.  I 
was  at  this  time,  April  17,  1743,  being 
eleven  years  old,  on  a  visit  to  my  cousins 
at  Choptank,  some  thirty  miles  away.  We 
were  very  merry  at  supper,  when  Peter,  who 
was  supposed  to  look  after  me,  arrived  with 
the  news  of  my  father's  sudden  illness.  It 
was  the  first  of  my  too  many  experiences  of 
the  ravage  time  brings  to  all  men.  I  heard 
the  news  with  a  kind  of  awe,  but  without 
realizing  how  serious  in  many  ways  was 
this  summons.  I  rode  home  behind  Peter, 
and  found  my  mother  in  a  state  of  distrac- 

37 


38  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

tion.  She  led  me  to  the  bedside  of  my 
father,  crying  out,  "  He  is  dying. "  The 
children  were  around  him,  and  he  was 
groaning  in  great  pain;  but  he  kissed  us 
in  turn,  and  said  to  me,  "Be  good  to  your 
mother. "  I  may  say  that  throughout  her 
life  I  have  kept  the  promise  I  made  him 
as  I  knelt,  crying,  at  his  bedside.  He  died 
that  night,  and  I  lost  my  best  friend. 

My  mother  for  a  month  talked  of  him 
incessantly,  and  after  that  very  little,  ex 
cept  to  say,  "  If  your  father  were  alive  I 
should  be  more  considered. "  I  do  not 
know  why  I,  too,  was  averse  to  speaking 
of  him,  and  yet  I  loved  him  above  all  peo 
ple.  But  concerning  such  matters  children 
are  puzzled,  and  unable  to  express  them 
selves,  nor  have  I  ever  been  other  than  shy 
in  saying  what  I  feel  in  the  way  of  affec 
tion,  whereas  on  paper  I  do  not  suffer  this 
shyness,  nor  feel  the  reserve  which  occa 
sioned  Colonel  Trumbull  to  say  to  me 
once  that  I  was  often  unjustly  regarded 
as  cold  because  of  niy  difficulty  of  being 
outspoken  concerning  my  regard  for  those 
dear  to  me.  I  am  little  better  of  it  to-day. 

My  father  had  much  land  and  little 
money.  As  was  usual  in  Virginia,  he  left  to 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  39 

his  elder  sons  the  larger  share.  To  Law 
rence  he  gave  his  interest  in  the  iron-works, 
with  Mount  Vernon  and  two  thousand  five 
hundred  acres,  also  the  resident  slaves  and 
the  mill,  and,  in  case  of  his  failure  to  leave 
a  child  lawfully  begotten  or  such  child 
dying  under  age,  this  property  was  "  to 
go  to  and  remain "  to  me.  To  Augustine 
he  left  Wakefield;  to  me  his  farm  on  the 
Rappahannock  and  one  moiety  of  his  land 
on  Deep  Run,  with  ten  negro  slaves.  Sam 
uel,  John,  and  Charles  were  also  given  land 
and  slaves,  and  Betty  four  hundred  pounds. 
My  mother  was  to  have  my  estate  for 
her  use  until  I  was  of  age,  and  with  what 
ever  else  was  left  her,  and  her  own  sixteen 
hundred  acres,  might  have  sufficed  with 
economy;  hut  that  virtue  she  found  diffi 
cult  to  practise,  and  was  never  a  prudent 
or  managing  woman.  She  soon  felt  her 
children  to  be  a  heavy  burden  upon  an 
estate  which  was  none  too  large,  and  com 
plained,  as  was  common  for  her  to  do  all 
her  life,  that  she  was  poor,  and  this  even 
when  I  was  assured  that  she  was  comfort 
ably  cared  for.  I  never  knew  a  more  af 
fectionate  mother.  She  was  said  to  have 
been  foolishly  fond  of  her  children,  and  I 


40  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

was  more  than  once  brought  to  feel  that 
her  love  of  us  did  interfere  with  good  judg 
ment.  Certainly  whatever  were  her  opin 
ions,— and  we  did  not  often  agree,— these 
differences  never  lessened  my  love  for  her, 
as  differences  often  do.  As  she  grew  old 
her  peculiarities  were  more  and  more  nota 
ble.  With  very  many  good  qualities,  she 
was  hard  to  satisfy,  and  this  did  not  cease 
until  the  end  of  her  life,  for  she  could  not 
be  restrained  from  borrowing  money  and 
accepting  gifts  from  those  who  were  not 
her  relations.  Indeed,  I  once  had  to  write 
her  that  while  I  had  a  shilling  left  she 
should  never  want,  but  that  I  must  not  be 
viewed  as  a  delinquent,  or  be  considered 
by  the  world  as  unjust  and  an  undutiful 
son.  But  so  was  she  made,  and  even  her 
doctor,  Thornton,  wrote  to  me  in  her  last 
illness,  in  which  his  cousin,  Dr.  Rush,  was 
also  consulted,  that  he  "  had  every  day  a 
small  battle  with  her." 


VI 


MY  father  died  in  April,  1743,  and  Law 
rence  was  married  to  Miss  Fairfax 
in  June  of  that  year.  It  was  fortunate  for 
me  that  my  brother's  wife,  Anne  Fairfax, 
soon  shared  the  constant  affection  felt  for 
me  by  her  husband  Lawrence. 

Austin,  as  we  usually  called  Augustine, 
also  embarked  into  the  matrimonial  state 
as  the  husband  of  Anne  Aylett  of  West 
moreland,  who  brought  him  a  large  prop 
erty. 

The  next  three  years  of  my  young  life 
were  important.  I  learned  very  soon  from 
my  mother  that,  when  of  age,  I  would  have 
a  moderate  estate  and  insufficient.  It  is  a 
happy  thing  that  children  have  no  power 
to  realize  what  money  means  to  their  elders, 
else  I  might  have  been  set  against  Law 
rence  and  thought  my  father  unjust.  As 
I  did  not  understand  my  mother's  com 
plaints  of  poverty,  they  had  no  effect  upon 

41 


42  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

me.  After  my  father 's  death,  and  in  the  ab 
sence  of  my  elder  brothers,  the  house  and 
farm  soon  showed  the  want  of  a  man's 
care,  and  we  lads  enjoyed  at  this  time  al 
most  unlimited  freedom.  My  older  bro 
thers  saw  it,  and  felt  that  I,  at  least,  might 
suffer,  being  of  an  age  and  nature  to  need 
discipline  and  to  be  guided.  In  fact,  I  de 
lighted  to  skip  away  from  my  man  Peter, 
and  find  indulgence  in  roasting  ears  of  In 
dian  corn  in  the  forbidden  cabins  of  the 
field-slaves,  or  in  coon-hunts  at  night,  when 
all  the  house  was  asleep.  When  my  pranks 
were  discovered  my  mother  was  sometimes 
too  severe  in  her  punishments,  or  else  only 
laughed. 

Nothing  was  assured  or  certain  in  the 
house,  now  that  the  hand  of  wise  and  strong 
government  was  gone. 

We  were  taught  the  catechism  as  a  prep 
aration  for  Sundays,  and  my  mother  read 
the  Bishop  of  Exeter's  sermons  or  Matthew 
Hale's  " Commentaries,  Moral  and  Divine." 
I  still  have  this  book.  It  belonged  origi 
nally  to  my  father's  first  wife,  Jane  Butler, 
and  below  her  name  my  mother  wrote  her 
own,  "Mary  Ball."  At  this  time  she  was 
much  given  to  Puritanical  views,  which 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  43 

were  beginning  to  be  felt  in  Virginia,  owing 
largely  to  the  want  of  better  clergymen  in 
the  Established  Church.  She  would  have 
the  servants  up  late  on  Saturday  to  cook, 
that  there  might  be  no  labour  on  Sunday. 
In  consequence,  the  blacks  fell  asleep  in 
church.  My  mother  would  then  get  up  in 
mid-service,  and  go  where  they  sat,  and  poke 
them  awake  with  her  fan. 

At  this  period  my  great  personal  strength 
and  endurance  were  constant  temptations 
to  forbidden  enterprises  on  land  or  water, 
and  it  was  at  this  time  of  my  life  that  I 
discovered  a  certain  pleasure  in  danger.  I 
find  it  difficult,  not  having  the  philosophi 
cal  turn  of  mind,  to  describe  what  I  mean; 
but  of  this  I  became  aware  as  time  went  on, 
that,  in  battle  or  other  risks,  I  was  suddenly 
the  master  of  larger  competence  of  mind 
and  body  than  I  possessed  at  other  times. 

When,  on  one  occasion,  the  learned  Dr. 
Franklin  desired  to  be  excused  if  he  asked 
whether  in  battle  I  had  ever  felt  fear,  I  had 
to  confess  that  in  contemplating  danger 
I  was  like  most  men,  but  that  immediate 
peril  had  upon  me  the  influence  which  liquor 
has  upon  some,  making  them  feel  able  for 
anything.  He  said  yes,  but  as  to  the  influ- 


44  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

ence  of  drink,  that  was  a  mere  delusion; 
whereas  he  understood,  and  here  he  begged 
to  apologize,  that,  in  great  danger  in  battle 
and  when  the  ranks  were  breaking,  I  had 
seemed  to  possess  powers  of  decision  and 
swift  judgment  beyond  those  I  could  ordi 
narily  command.  I  said  it  was  true,  that 
danger  seemed  to  lift  me  in  mind  and  body 
above  my  common  level,  and  that  it  was  the 
satisfaction  this  gave  which  made  danger 
agreeable ;  not,  be  it  said,  the  peril,  but  the 
results. 

I  apprehend  him  to  have  been  correct, 
for  in  battle  I  have  often  felt  this,  as  at 
Monmouth,  at  Princeton,  and  elsewhere. 
In  general,  my  mind  acts  slowly,  and  I  have 
been  often  painfully  aware  of  it  when  in 
council  with  General  Hamilton,  Mr.  Jeffer 
son,  or  General  Knox.  General  Wayne  was 
fortunate  in  this  quickening  of  the  mind  in 
danger.  He  once  said  to  Colonel  Hum 
phreys  of  my  staff  that  he  disliked  danger, 
but  liked  its  effects  upon  himself  when  it 
came. 

Certainly  I  had  my  share  of  risks  at  the 
time  I  now  speak  of.  No  one  controlled 
my  actions,  and  old  Peter,  in  whom  my 
father  had  greatly  trusted,  now  allowed  me, 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  45 

in  general,  to  do  as  pleased  me.  The  river 
and  the  forests  afforded  game,  but  the  rid 
ing  of  half-broken  horses  was  what  most  I 
liked.  My  joy  in  the  horse  and  his  ways 
was  the  mere  satisfaction  in  conquest  and  in 
the  training  of  a  strong  brute ;  but  it  made 
me  a  good  horseman,  and  helped,  though  I 
knew  it  not  then,  to  prepare  me  for  the  years 
when  I  was  to  be  so  much  in  the  saddle. 

We  had  at  this  time  a  slave  named  Samp 
son,  who  possessed  great  control  over  ani 
mals.  He  was  old  in  our  service,  and  very 
black.  He  was  said  to  be  a  Mandingo  negro, 
and  to  do  very  well  if  kindly  treated.  The 
blacks  of  this  tribe  incline  to  take  their  own 
lives  if  what  they  feel  to  be  disgrace  falls 
upon  them,  and  this  man,  for  whom  my  fa 
ther  had  a  great  liking,  never  had  been 
whipped.  He  had  charge,  under  the  over 
seer,  of  the  stables,  the  brood-mares,  and  the 
training  of  horses  for  saddle  or  harness. 

I  was  at  this  time  more  about  the  stables 
than  was  allowed  under  my  father 's  rule, 
and  did,  in  fact,  much  as  I  liked  out  of 
school  hours.  It  so  happened  that  once, 
on  a  Saturday,  there  being  no  school,  I 
was  very  early  at  the  stables,  and,  as  there 
was  no  one  to  hinder,  made  the  groom 


46  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

saddle  a  hunter  we  had.  On  this  I  made 
my  appearance  at  a  meet  for  fox-hunting, 
four  miles  from  home,  to  the  great  amuse 
ment  of  the  gentry.  They  asked  me  if  I 
could  stay  on,  and  if  the  horse  knew  he  had 
any  one  on  his  back.  However,  the  big  sor 
rel  carried  me  well,  and  knew  his  business 
better  than  I  did.  I  saw  two  foxes  killed, 
and  this  was  my  first  hunt;  but  as  I  rode 
home  my  horse  went  lame,  and,  to  save  him, 
I  dismounted  and  led  him.  Towards  noon, 
when  we  were  come  to  the  farm  stable,  I 
found  the  overseer,  with  a  whip  in  his  hand, 
swearing  at  Sampson,  and  making  as  if 
about  to  beat  him.  I  ran  up  behind  them 
and  snatched  away  the  whip.  The  overseer 
turned  and,  seeing  me,  said  he  meant  to 
punish  Sampson  for  letting  me  take  a 
horse  which  was  sold  to  go  to  Williamsburg. 
When  he  knew  the  horse  was  lame,  he  was 
still  more  angry;  but  I  declared  I  was  to 
blame,  and  no  one  else,  and  said  he  should 
first  whip  me.  He  said  no  more,  except  that 
my  mother  would  say  what  was  to  be  done. 
I  think  he  made  no  report  of  me,  and  cer 
tainly  my  mother  said  nothing.  When  the 
overseer  had  walked  away,  the  old  servant 
thanked  me,  and  said  no  one  had  ever  struck 
him,  and  that  it  would  be  his  death.  This 


THE  YOUTH  OF   WASHINGTON  47 

seemed  strange  to  me,  a  boy,  for  the  slaves 
were  whipped  like  children,  and  thought  as 
little  of  it.  Sampson  said  to  me  that  I  was 
like  my  father,  that  when  I  was  angry  I  be 
came  red  and  then  pale,  and  that  I  must 
never  get  angry  with  a  horse. 

After  this  interference  Sampson  took 
great  pains  with  me  and  taught  me  many 
useful  things  about  horses.  Although  I 
became  a  good  horseman,  I  never  had  his 
strange  gift  of  managing  dogs  or  other 
creatures.  Indeed,  he  was  the  only  black 
man  I  ever  saw  who  could  handle  bees,  for 
these  industrious  little  insects  have  a  great 
enmity  to  negroes. 

All  this  happened  in  October,  1743,  and 
was  the  means  of  making  a  useful  change 
in  my  life  and  ways.  At  about  this  time 
my  two  brothers  came  together  to  visit  us, 
in  order  to  satisfy  my  mother's  complaints 
that  she  was  never  so  poor  and,  since  my 
father  died,  was  not  ever  considered.  It 
seems  that  at  this  time  she  was,  as  she  re 
mained  until  death,  a  dissatisfied  woman, 
although  never  without  sufficient  income. 
She  was,  I  fear,  born  discontented,  and 
could  not  help  it;  for  happiness  depends 
more  on  the  internal  frame  of  a  person's 
mind  than  on  the  externals  in  this  world. 


VII 

WHILE  matters  concerning  the  estate 
were  being  discussed,  Lawrence  soon 
discovered  so  much  of  my  too  great  free 
dom  that  he  and  my  half-brother  Augustine 
insisted  that  I  go  to  live  for  a  time  with  the 
latter,  near  to  whose  abode  was  a  good 
school.  My  mother  wept  and  protested,  but 
at  last  agreed,  with  impatience,  that  I  might 
go  if  I  wished  to  do  so.  Of  this  Lawrence 
felt  secure,  for  he  had  promised  me  a  horse 
for  myself  and  clothes  to  come  from  Lon 
don,  especially  a  red  coat.  I  have  always 
had  a  fancy  for  being  well  clothed ;  and  as  I 
was  less  well  dressed  than  other  gentle 
men  's  sons,  the  idea  of  a  scarlet  coat,  and  the 
promise  of  spurs  when  I  had  learned  to  ride 
better,  settled  my  mind.  I  liked  very  well 
the  great  liberty  I  had,  and  to  part  with  this 
and  my  playfellows  I  was  not  inclined ;  but 
I  felt,  as  a  boy  does,  that  I  was  being  made 
of  importance,  which  pleases  mankind  at  all 

48 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  49 

times  of  life.  I  may  say,  also,  that  I  was  be 
come  more  grave  than  most  of  my  years, 
and  was  curious  to  see  Williamsburg,  where 
lived  the  king's  governor,  and  something 
beyond  our  plantation. 

I  remember  that  George  Fairfax  insisted 
once  that  no  action  ever  grew  out  of  only 
one  motive,  and,  as  I  see,  there  were  sev 
eral  made  me  willing  to  leave  ray  home. 
Thus  when  Lawrence  talked  to  me  of  his 
wars,  and  of  his  friends  the  Fairfaxes,  and 
of  how  I  must  also  soon  visit  him  at  Mount 
Vernon,  I  readily  agreed  to  his  wishes.  It 
was  hard  to  part  with  Betty,  who  looked 
like  me  until  I  had  the  smallpox,  and  with 
my  dear  brother  Jack;  but  I  was  eager,  as 
the  day  came,  to  see  the  outside  world,  and 
I  rode  away  very  content,  on  a  gray  mare 
with  one  black  fore  foot,  beside  Augustine, 
and  my  man  Peter  after  us. 

It  was  a  long  ride  across  the  neck  and 
down  to  Pope's  Creek  on  the  Potomac,  and 
I  was  a  tired  lad  when  we  rode  at  evening 
up  to  the  door  of  the  house  of  Wakefield, 
where  I  was  born  eleven  years  before. 

Here  began  a  new  life  for  me.  Anne 
Aylett,  Mrs.  Augustine  Washington,  was  a 
kind  woman,  very  orderly  in  her  ways,  and 


50  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON      . 

handsome.  After  two  days  Peter  was  sent 
home,  and  I  was  allowed  to  ride  alone  to 
a  Mr.  Williams 's  school  at  Oak  Grove,  four 
miles  away. 

I  took  very  easily  to  arithmetic,  and, 
later,  to  mathematic  studies.  I  remember 
with  what  pleasure  and  pride  I  accompanied 
Mr.  Williams  when  he  went  to  survey  some 
meadows  on  Bridges'  Creek.  To  discover 
that  what  could  be  learned  at  school  might 
be  turned  to  use  in  setting  out  the  bounds  of 
land,  gave  me  the  utmost  satisfaction.  I 
have  always  had  this  predilection  for  such 
knowledge  as  can  be  put  to  practical  uses, 
and  was  never  weary  of  tramping  after  my 
teacher,  which  much  surprised  my  sister-in- 
law.  I  took  less  readily  to  geography  and 
history.  Some  effort  was  made  (but  this 
was  later)  to  instruct  me  in  the  rudiments 
of  Latin,  but  it  was  not  kept  up,  and  a 
phrase  or  two  I  found  wrote  later  in  a  copy 
book  is  all  that  remains  to  me  of  that 
tongue. 

I  much  regret  that  I  never  learned  to 
spell  very  well  or  to  write  English  with 
elegance.  As  the  years  went  by,  I  improved 
as  to  both  defects,  through  incessant  care 
on  my  part  and  copying  my  letters  over 


THE  YOUTH  OP  WASHINGTON  51 

and  over.  Great  skill  in  the  use  of  language 
I  have  never  possessed,  but  I  have  always 
been  able  to  make  my  meaning  so  plain  in 
what  I  wrote  that  no  one  could  fail  to  un 
derstand  what  I  desired  to  make  known. 

I  have  always  been  willing  to  confess 
my  lack  of  early  education,  but  notwith 
standing  have  been  better  able  to  present  my 
reasons  on  paper  than  by  word  of  mouth. 
I  am  aware,  as  I  have  said,  that,  except  in 
the  chase  or  in  battle,  my  mind  moves 
slowly,  but  I  am  further  satisfied  that  under 
peaceful  circumstances  my  final  capacity  to 
judge  and  act  is  quite  as  good  as  that  of  men 
who,  like  General  Hamilton,  were  my  supe- 
riours  in  power  to  express  themselves.  I 
may  add  that  I  learned  early  to  write  a  clear 
and  very  legible  hand.  As  to  spelling,  my 
mother's  was  the  worst  I  ever  saw,  and  I 
believe  King  George  was  no  better  at  it  than 
I,  his  namesake.  This  just  now  reminds  me 
that  I  may  have  been  named  after  his  grand 
father,  King  George  II,  for  George  was  not 
a  family  name,  and,  as  we  were  very  loyal 
people,  it  may  have  been  so. 

It  was  usual  in  those  days  to  give  to 
children  names  long  in  use  in  a  family. 
John,  Augustine,  and  Lawrence,  for  males, 


52  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

were  repeated  among  us,  and  Mildred  and 
Harriott;  but  I  never  heard  of  a  George 
Washington  before  me,  nor  of  any  George 
in  our  descent,  except  my  grandmother's 
grandfather,  the  Hon.  George  Reade  of 
his  Majesty's  council  in  1657.  General 
Hamilton  at  one  time  interested  himself  in 
this  matter,  but  I  could  make  no  satisfac 
tory  answer.  I  suppose  my  mother  knew. 
I  never  thought  to  ask  her.  General  Ham 
ilton  made  merry  over  the  idea  of  how  much 
it  would  have  gratified  his  present  Majesty 
to  have  known  of  his  grandfather  being  thus 
honoured. 

Indeed,  it  pleased  Mr.  Duane,  when  ma 
ligning  me,  to  call  me  Georgius  Rex,  but  of 
this  I  apprehend  that  I  have  said  enough. 
It  is  of  no  importance. 

Outside  of  my  school,  the  life  at  Wake- 
field  was  well  suited  to  a  lad  of  spirit. 
There  were  thirty  horses  in  the  stables,  and 
some  of  them  well  bred  and  had  won  races 
at  Williamsburg. 

The  waters  of  Pope's  Creek,  where  the 
Potomac  tides  rush  in  at  flood  and  out  at 
ebb  through  a  narrow  outlet  of  the  creek, 
were  full  of  crabs,  oysters,  clams,  and  fish. 
One  of  the  slaves,  named  Appleby  after 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  53 

August's  school,  was  engaged  in  the  supply 
of  fish,  which  the  many  negroes  and  the 
family  needed.  I  think  there  were,  at  the 
least,  seventy  blacks.  Being  permitted  to 
go  on  the  water  with  Appleby,  I  found 
much  satisfaction  in  sailing  and  rowing 
and  the  search  for  shell-fish.  My  brother 
August  once  surprised  me  by  saying  that 
some  day  the  bottom  of  the  Bay  of  Chesa 
peake  would  be  a  richer  mine,  on  account 
of  the  oysters,  than  my  brother  Lawrence's 
iron-mines,  by  which  we  all  set  great  store. 
This  may  some  day  come  to  pass.  The 
quantities  of  shad  took  in  April  and  May 
were  enough  to  feed  an  army,  and  what  we 
did  not  eat  went  to  feed  the  land. 

In  the  autumn  I  was  sometimes  allowed 
to  sit  with  August  in  a  wattled  blind,  be 
hind  brush,  while  at  dawning  of  day  he  shot 
the  ducks,  geese,  and  swans  which  flew  over 
the  little  islands  of  Pope's  Creek  in  great 
flocks. 

I  prospered  in  this  hardy  life  and  grew 
strong  and  able  to  endure,  nor  was  it  less 
good  for  me  in  other  ways;  for,  although 
I  cared  very  little  for  August 's  fiddling,  nor 
to  hear  Anne  sing,  nor  for  the  books,  of 
which  there  was  a  fair  supply,  I  admired 


54  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

August  so  much  that  I  began,  as  some  lads 
will  do,  to  imitate  his  ways  of  doing  things. 
And  this  was  of  use  to  me,  for  August  was 
very  courteous  and  mild-spoken  to  people 
of  all  classes,  and  much  beloved  by  his 
slaves,  to  whom  he  was  a  gentle  and  consid 
erate  master. 

The  country  along  the  Potomac  was  well 
settled  with  families  of  gentry,  and  visits 
were  made  by  rowboats,  so  that  I  found  very 
soon  boy  companions,  although  Belvoir, 
where  the  Fairfaxes  lived,  and  Mount  Ver- 
non,  rebuilt  in  1742,  being  remote,  were  less 
frequently  visited. 

The  church  at  Oak  Grove  was  the  better 
attended,  and  few  persons  were  presented 
or  admonished  for  non-attendance,  be 
cause  on  Sunday,  as  many  drove  long  dis 
tances,  provisions  were  brought,  and  in  the 
oak  grove  near  by,  between  services,  there 
was  a  kind  of  picnic,  very  pleasant  to  the 
younger  people. 


VIII 

SOON  after  going  to  live  for  a  season  at 
Wakefield  with  Augustine,  I  began  to 
take  myself  more  seriously  than  is  common 
in  boys  of  my  age.  I  believe  I  have  all  my 
life  been  regarded  as  grave  and  reserved, 
although,  in  fact,  a  part  of  this  was  due  to 
a  certain  shyness,  which  I  never  entirely 
overcame,  and  of  which  I  have  already 
written.  My  new  schoolmaster,  Mr.  Wil- 
Kams,  gave  me  a  book  which  I  still  have, 
and  which  here,  and  later  at  Mount  Ver- 
non,  was  of  use  to  me.  It  was  called  the 
"  Youth's  Companion. "  It  contained  re 
ceipts,  directions  for  conduct  and  manners, 
how  to  write  letters,  and,  what  most  pleased 
me,  methods  of  surveying  land  by  Gunter's 
rule,  and  all  manner  of  problems  in  arith 
metic  and  mathematics,  as  well  as  methods 
of  writing  deeds  and  conveyances.  Young 
as  I  was,  it  suited  well  the  practical  side  of 
my  nature;  for  how  to  do  things,  and  the 

55 


56  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

doing  of  them  so  as  to  reach  practical  re 
sults,  have  never  ceased  to  please  me. 

My  mother's  natural  desire  for  my  pres 
ence  wore  out  the  patience  of  Augustine, 
and  I  was  at  last,  after  some  months  (but 
I  do  not  remember  exactly  how  long),  sent 
back  to  her  and  to  a  school  kept  by  the 
Rev.  James  Marye,  a  gentleman  of  Hugue 
not  descent,  at  Fredericksburg,  and  from 
whom  I  might  have  learned  French.  My 
father  had  been  desirous,  I  know  not  why, 
that  I  should  learn  that  language ;  but  this 
I  never  did,  to  my  regret.  I  should  have 
been  saved  some  calumny,  as  I  shall  men 
tion,  and  later  also  inconvenience,  when  I 
had  to  deal  with  French  officers  during  the 
great  war.  I  had  then  to  make  use  of  Mr. 
Duponceau  and  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  Hugh 
Wynne  of  my  staff,  but  had  been  better 
served  by  Gr.  W.  had  I  known  the  French 
tongue. 

I  was  at  this  time  about  fourteen,  and 
was,  as  I  said,  a  rather  grave  lad.  I  was 
industrious  as  to  what  I  Hked,  but  fond  of 
horses  and  the  chase,  and  was  big  of  my 
years,  masterful,  and  of  more  than  common 
bodily  strength. 

I  was  not  more  unfortunate  than  most 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  67 

other  young  Virginians  in  regard  to  edu 
cation.  Governor  Spottiswood,  as  I  have 
heard,  found  no  members  of  the  ma 
jority  in  the  House  who  could  spell  cor 
rectly  or  write  so  as  to  state  clearly  their 
grievances.  There  were  persons,  like  the 
late  Colonel  Byrd,  who  were  exceptions,  but 
these  were  usually  such  as  had  been  abroad. 
Patrick  Henry,  long  after  this  time,  ob 
served  to  my  sister  that,  even  if  we  Virgin 
ians  had  little  education,  Mother  Wit  was 
better  than  Mother  Country,  for  the  gen 
tlemen  who  came  back  brought  home  more 
vices  than  virtues.  In  fact,  this  may  have 
been  my  father 's  opinion ;  for,  although  he 
sent  Lawrence  and  Augustine  to  the  Ap- 
pleby  School  in  England,  he  would  not  allow 
of  any  long  residence  in  London,  where,  he 
said,  "men's  manners  are  finished,  but  so, 
too,  are  their  virtues." 

For  a  few  months  in  the  next  year  I  spent 
about  half  of  the  time  with  my  mother. 
While  there  I  studied,  as  before,  at  the 
school  kept  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Marye.  The 
rest  of  the  time  was  spent  in  the  company 
of  Lawrence  and  his  lady  at  Mount  Vernon. 

Lawrence  was  a  tall  man,  narrow-chested, 
and  less  vigorous  than  Augustine.  He  was, 


58  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

however,  fond  of  the  chase  and  fox-hunting, 
and  had  books  in  larger  number  than  was 
usual  among  planters.  I  remember  him  as 
very  pleasing  in  his  ways,  and  possessed  of 
a  certain  reserve  and  gravity  of  demeanour, 
which,  as  my  sister  Betty  Lewis  remarked, 
made  his  rare  expressions  of  affection  more 
valuable. 

He  seemed  to  me  the  finest  gentleman 
I  ever  knew,  and  I  took  to  imitating  him  as 
my  model,  as  I  had  done  Augustine,  which 
was  at  times  matter  for  mirth  to  Anne,  his 
wife.  No  doubt  it  seemed  ridiculous,  but  it 
was,  I  do  believe,  of  use  to  me. 

As  I  write,  I  recall  with  unceasing  grati 
tude  the  great  debt  I  owe  to  my  brother's 
care  of  me  at  this  period  of  my  life.  I  was 
encouraged  when  I  was  at  Mount  Vernon— 
as  I  was  then  for  a  time  away  from  school 
—to  keep  up  my  studies,  and  I  remember 
that  I  fell  again  with  satisfaction  upon  the 
manual  I  just  now  spoke  of.  It  is  still  in  my 
possession,  and  my  wife's  children  once 
made  themselves  uncommon  merry  over  the 
ill-made  pictures  I  drew  on  the  blank  pages ; 
but  it  was  of  use  to  me  as  no  other  book  ever 
was. 

I  was  early  made  to  understand  that  I 


THE  YOUTH  OF   WASHINGTON  59 

must  do  something  to  support  myself.  The 
few  acres  on  the  river  Rappahannock  were 
not  to  be  mine  until  I  became  of  age,  and 
until  then  were  my  mother 's ;  indeed,  I  never 
took  them  from  her.  My  brother  disap 
proved  of  the  easy,  loose  life  of  the  younger 
sons  of  planters,  and,  of  course,  trade  was 
not  to  be  considered,  nor  to  work  as  a  clerk ; 
and  yet,  without  care,  accuracy,  and  such 
business  capacity  as  is  needed  by  merchants, 
no  man  can  hope  to  be  successful,  either  as 
a  planter  or  even  in  warfare. 

Ever  since  I  had  been  at  Mr.  Williams 's 
school,  I  had  a  liking  for  the  surveying  of 
land,  and  had  later  been  allowed  to  further 
inform  myself  by  attending  upon  Mr.  Genn, 
the  official  surveyor  of  Westmoreland,  a 
man  very  honest  and  most  accurate.  In 
deed,!  had  so  well  learned  this  business  that 
I  became,  to  my  great  joy,  of  use  to  Law 
rence  and  some  of  his  neighbours,  especially 
to  William  Fairfax,  who  had  at  first  much 
doubt  as  to  how  far  my  skill  might  be 
trusted. 

Meanwhile  various  occupations  for  me 
were  considered  and  discussed  by  my  elders. 
The  sea  was  less  favoured  in  Virginia  than 
at  the  North ;  but  many  captains  of  mer- 


60  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

chant  ships  were  in  those  days,  like  my  fa 
ther,  of  the  better  class,  and  my  brothers, 
who  saw  in  me  no  great  promise,  believed 
that  if  I  went  to  sea  as  a  sailor  I  might  be 
helped  in  time  to  a  ship,  and  have  my  share 
in  the  prosperous  London  trade. 

Like  many  boys,  I  inclined  to  this  life. 
I  remind  myself  of  it  here  because  it  has 
been  said  that  I  was  intended  at  this  time 
to  serve  the  king  as  a  midshipman,  which 
was  never  the  case.  Meanwhile,— for  this 
was  an  affair  long  talked  about,— my  mo 
ther's  brother,  Joseph  Ball,  wrote  to  her 
from  London,  May  19,  1746,  that  the  sea 
was  a  dog's  life,  and,  unless  a  lad  had  great 
influence,  was  a  poor  affair,  and  the  navy 
no  better.  Upon  this  my  mother  wrote, 
offering  various  trifling  objections,  and  at 
last  hurried  to  Mount  Vernon,  and  so  pre 
vailed  by  her  tears  that  my  small  chest  was 
brought  back  to  land  from  a  ship  in  the 
river. 

My  brother  Lawrence  comforted  me  in 
my  disappointment,  saying  there  were  many 
roads  in  life,  and  that  only  one  had  been 
barred.  I  remember  that  I  burst  into  tears, 
when  once  I  was  alone,  and  rushed  off  to 
the  stables  and  got  a  horse,  and  rode  away 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  61 

at  a  great  pace.  This  has  always  done  me 
good,  and,  somehow,  settled  my  mind;  for 
I  have  never  felt,  as  I  believe  a  Latin  writer 
said,  that  care  sits  behind  a  horseman.  I 
jolted  mine  off,  but  for  days  would  not  have 
any  one  talk  to  me  of  the  matter.  Even  as 
a  lad,  I  had  unwillingness  to  recur  to  a 
thing  when  once  it  was  concluded,  and  that 
is  so  to  this  day. 


IX 


THE  summer  passed  away  in  sport  and 
in  visits  to  William  Fairfax,  who  lived 
below  us  on  the  river.  Here  I  saw  much 
good  society,  among  others  the  Masons, 
Carys,  and  Lees,  and  formed  an  attachment 
to  William  Fairfax,  the  master  of  Belvoir, 
and  his  son  George,  which  was  never  broken, 
although  we  came  long  after  to  differ  in 
regard  to  our  political  views.  But  of  this, 
and  of  his  cousin,  Lord  Fairfax,  more  here 
after.  In  the  fall  of  this  year  I  returned 
to  my  mother,  or  rather,  as  before,  I  went 
to  board  across  the  Rappahannock  at  Fred- 
ericksburg,  in  the  house  of  a  widow  of  the 
name  of  Stevenson,  which  she  pronounced 
Stinson.  She  had,  by  her  two  marriages,  six 
sons,  two  of  them  Crawfords  and  four  Ste- 
vensons.  They  were  all  well-grown  fellows, 
and  of  great  strength  and  bigness. 

I  am  reminded,  as  I  set  down  in  a  ran 
dom  way  what  interests  me,  that,  as  I  ex 
pected,  this  act  of  attention  brings  to  mind 

62 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  63 

some  things  which  I  seemed  to  have  alto 
gether  forgotten.  Among  them  is  this,  that, 
just  before  returning  to  my  school,  I  went 
with  Lawrence  to  pay  my  respects  to  Lord 
Fairfax,  who  was  come  for  a  visit  to  his 
cousin  at  Belvoir.  We  found  the  family, 
however,  in  sudden  distress  at  the  news, 
just  arrived,  of  the  death  in  battle  of 
Thomas,  the  second  son,  who  was  killed  in 
the  Indies,  in  an  engagement  on  board  his 
Majesty's  ship  Harwich.  We  made,  on  this 
account,  but  a  short  stay.  I  remember  that, 
as  we  rode  away,  Lawrence  said  to  me :  "  A 
great  preacher  called  Jeremy  Taylor  wrote 
a  sermon  about  death,  and  gave  a  long  list 
of  the  many  ways  of  dying.  Which  way, 
George,  would  you  wish  to  die?  '  I  said  I 
did  not  wish  to  die  at  all. 

Lawrence  said:  "But  you  will  die  some 
day.  What  way  would  you  choose  T '  I  said 
I  thought  to  die  in  battle  would  be  best, 
and  I  said  this  because  I  remembered  with 
horror  watching  how  my  father  died  and 
how  greatly  he  suffered. 

Lawrence  said:  "The  good  preacher  did 
not  speak  of  that  way  to  die."  Now,  as  I 
write,  being  in  years,  it  seems  that  not  in 
that  way  shall  I  die,  nor  does  it  matter. 


64  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

After  this  I  went  back  to  my  mother,  or 
rather  to  the  town  of  Fredericksburg.  I 
liked  it  the  more  because  Colonel  Harry 
Willis  lived  there.  He  married  first  my 
aunt  Mildred,  and  second  my  cousin  Mil 
dred,  so  that  I  had  about  me  many  cousins, 
with  also  Warners  and  Thorntons  of  my 
kindred. 

I  was  here  fortunate  in  my  teacher,  of 
whom  I  have  spoken  before.  This  gentle 
man,  the  Rev.  James  Marye,  was  very  dif 
ferent  in  his  ways  from  some  of  the  clergy 
put  upon  us  by  the  Bishop  of  London,  hard- 
drinking,  ill-mannered  men.  Mr.  Marye 
was  got  for  St.  George's  parish,  on  a  peti 
tion  of  the  vestry  to  Governor  Gooch.  He 
was  rector  thirty  years,  and  was  succeeded 
by  his  son. 

On  Sunday,  as  was  quite  common  in  Vir 
ginia,  the  girls  and  boys  were  heard  the 
catechism  by  the  rector,  and  those  who  did 
well  were  rewarded  from  time  to  time— 
the  girls  with  pincushions  and  the  boys  with 
trap-balls. 

The  sons  of  the  widow  in  whose  house 
I  lodged  during  the  week  were,  as  I  have 
said,  rough,  big  fellows  who  damaged  a 
great  deal  the  pride  I  had  in  my  strength, 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  65 

because  among  them,  for  the  first  time  as 
concerned  lads  of  near  my  years,  I  met  my 
match  in  wrestling  and  jumping,  and  what 
we  called  the  Indian  hug.  Almost  all  of 
them  served  under  me  in  the  war,  and  one, 
William  Crawford,  rose  to  be  a  colonel  and 
perished  miserably,  being  burned  at  San- 
dusky  in  the  war  with  the  Indians,  after 
their  cruel  way. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Marye  concerned  himself 
more  than  the  ordinary  schoolmaster  with 
the  manners  of  his  scholars.  I  may  have 
been  inclined  beyond  most  lads  to  value  his 
rules  of  courtesy  and  decent  behaviour,  for 
I  kept  the  book  in  which  I  was  made  to  copy 
the  one  hundred  and  eighteen  precepts  he 
taught  us.  I  conceive  them  to  have  been  of 
service  to  me  and  to  others.  I  find  the  mice 
have  gnawed  and  eaten  a  part  of  these  rules. 
When,  of  late,  I  showed  them  to  my  sister 
Betty,  she  said  she  hoped  eating  of  them 
would  make  the  mice  polite,  for  she  was 
dreadfully  afraid  of  those  little  vermin. 

In  this  manner  my  next  two  years  passed 
by.  During  this  time  I  became  still  further 
attracted  by  the  exactness  and  interest  of 
the  surveying  of  land,  which  I  carried  on 
without  present  thought  of  gain.  I  used  to 


66  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

ride  into  the  woods,  and,  leaving  my  horse 
tied,  make  use  of  Peter  as  a  chain-bearer. 
Sometimes  my  cousins  went  with  me,  espe 
cially  Lewis  Willis,  my  schoolmate.  But 
they  soon  grew  tired  and  went  to  bird- 
nesting,  or  digging  up  of  woodchucks,  or  to 
making  the  i  l  praying-mantis "  bugs  fight 
one  another.  I  never  had  much  inclination 
towards  games  which  had  no  distinct  or  last 
ing  result.  At  any  time  I  preferred  for  my 
play  to  fish  or  shoot,  when  allowed,  or  to 
measure  lands  and  plot  them. 

Any  work  demanding  strict  method  is 
good  for  a  lad,  and  I  found  in*  surveys  an 
education  of  value  and  one  suited  to  my 
tastes,  which  never  very  much  inclined  to 
discover  happiness  in  constant  intercourse 
with  my  fellow-men,  nor  in  much  reading 
of  books. 


AT  the  age  of  fifteen,  in  the  fall  of  1747, 
JL\.  I  went  once  more,  for  a  time,  to  reside 
with  Lawrence  at  Mount  Vernon,  where  it 
was  to  be  finally  determined  what  I  should 
do  for  a  livelihood.  As  I  look  back  on  this 
period  of  my  life,  I  perceive  that  it  was  the 
occasion  of  many  changes.  I  saw  much 
more  of  George  William  Fairfax  and 
George  Mason,  ever  since  my  friends,  and 
was  often  with  George 's  father,  the  master 
of  Belvoir,  only  four  miles  from  Mount 
Vernon. 

There  came  often,  for  long  visits,  Wil 
liam's  cousin,  Lord  Fairfax,  over  whose 
great  estates  in  the  valley  William  was  the 
agent.  I  learned  later  that  when  first  his 
lordship  saw  me  he  pronounced  me  to  be 
a  too  sober  little  prig— and  this,  no  doubt, 
I  was;  but  after  a  time,  when  he  came  to 
overcome  my  shyness,  he  began  to  show 
such  interest  in  me  as  flattered  my  pride 

67 


68  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

and  pleased  my  brother  Lawrence.  At  this 
period  Lord  Fairfax  was  a  tall  man  and 
gaunt,  very  ruddy  and  near-sighted. 

It  was  natural  that  as  a  lad  I  should  be 
pleased  by  the  notice  this  gentleman,  the 
only  nobleman  I  had  ever  seen,  began  to 
take  of  me.  My  fondness  for  surveying  he 
took  more  seriously  than  did  my  own  peo 
ple,  and  told  me  once  it  was  a  noble  business, 
because  it  had  to  be  truthful,  and  because 
it  kept  a  man  away  from  men  and,  espe 
cially,  from  women.  I  did  not  then  under 
stand  what  he  meant,  and  did  not  think  it 
proper  to  inquire. 

I  owed  to  this  gentleman  opportunities 
which  led  on  to  others,  and  to  no  one  else 
have  I  been  more  indebted.  I  trust  and 
believe  that  I  let  go  no  chance  in  after  life 
to  serve  this  admirable  family. 

True  friendship  is  a  plant  of  slow  growth, 
and  must  undergo  and  withstand  the  shocks 
of  adversity  before  it  is  entitled  to  the  ap 
pellation.  In  fact,  much  disaster  has  be 
fallen  these  friends,  from  whom  politics  and 
distance  have  separated  me  without  weak 
ening  my  gratitude  or  affection. 

It  has  often  happened  to  me  to  learn  that 
I  am  thought  to  be  a  cold  man,  but  this  I 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  69 

believe  to  be  untrue;  for  though  I  am,  as 
concerns  social  intercourse  and  freedom  of 
speech,  a  man  reserved  by  nature,  I  discover 
in  myself  a  great  freedom  to  express  myself 
affectionately  on  paper— nor  do  I  conceive 
that  I  am  unlike  others  in  feeling  the  loss  of 
the  many  friends  whom  distance  or  death 
has  separated  from  me.  But  I  will  not  re 
pine  ;  I  have  had  my  day. 

As  my  brother  was  aware  of  the  advan 
tage  it  might  be  to  me  to  secure  the  good 
will  of  the  Fairfaxes,  I  was  encouraged  to 
visit  Belvoir  often,  and  thus  was  given  me 
the  chance  to  be,  when  he  chose,  in  the 
company  of  his  lordship,  who  was  at  this 
time  a  frequent  guest  at  Belvoir  with  his 
cousins,  and  now  and  then  at  Mount  Vernon. 

The  company  of  these  gentlemen  was 
of  much  value  to  me,  and  in  all  ways  use 
ful.  William  Fairfax  was  a  man  of  honour 
and  great  probity;  also  very  courteous. 
He  had  seen  service  in  both  Indies,  and 
had  divers  adventures  in  clearing  the  pi 
rates  out  of  New  Providence,  all  of  which 
I  was  delighted  to  hear  of,  and  he  to  relate. 
He  had  lived  as  a  collector  of  customs  in 
the  New  England  colonies,  having  taken 
a  wife  at  Salem,  and  had  a  greater  respect 


70  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

for  them  than  was  common  in  Virginia.  In 
deed,  in  those  days  our  planters  despised 
the  men  of  the  North  as  mere  traders  and 
Puritans,  while  they,  in  their  turn,  con 
sidered  us  godless,  drunken,  fox-hunting 
squires,  out  of  which  prejudices  arose,  dur 
ing  the  great  war,  many  jealousies  and 
troubles,  of  which,  God  knows,  there  were 
enough  without  these. 

At  this  time  I  was  old  enough  to  take 
an  interest  in  what  my  elders  said  of  the 
politics  of  the  colonies.  I  was  more  and 
more  surprised  to  hear  how  lightly  they 
regarded  the  governor.  I  listened  also  to 
their  complaints  of  the  too  frequent  inter 
ference  in  affairs  of  which  we  knew  much, 
and  the  advisers  of  the  crown  in  England 
very  little.  They  complained  that  enter 
prise  was  crippled  on  sea  and  land,  and 
considered  smuggling  a  just  way  to  escape 
some  of  the  grievous  duties  laid  between 
the  colonies.  They  felt  it  unjust  that  we 
must  use  none  but  British  ships  on  the 
ocean,  and  be  cut  off  from  the  natural  chan 
nels  of  commerce,  etc.  I  listened  eagerly 
and  wondered,  as  a  boy  would,  why  these 
great  gentlemen,  who  seemed  to  me  so  pow 
erful,  should  submit  to  such  wrongs.  They 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  71 

spoke  also  with  anger  of  the  way  in  which 
the  colonies  were  being  loaded  with  thieves 
and  women  of  the  worst  class,  sent  out  as 
convicts.  Of  the  political  convicts  they 
spoke  with  pity,  as  indeed  they  might,  for 
some  of  these  were  gentlemen  of  good 
families,  and  in  later  times,  being  freed, 
prospered  in  honourable  conditions  of  life. 

There  were  some  singular  matters  com 
bined  with  the  condition  of  indentured  ser 
vitude.  Especially  was  I  one  day  aston 
ished  to  learn  that  at  one  time,  but  earlier 
than  this,  if  the  white  master  of  an  inden 
tured  man  was  fined  and  could  not  pay, 
the  debt  might  be  satisfied  by  the  whipping 
of  one  of  these  bad  or  unfortunate  servants. 

Both  Fairfaxes  spoke  with  more  freedom 
of  the  king  than  did  my  brothers.  Per 
haps  they  inherited  some  of  the  liberty  of 
thought  which  made  the  famous  earl  of 
their  name  a  rebel  to  the  crown  in  the  time 
of  the  Commonwealth;  and  yet,  when,  at 
a  later  day,  we  had  even  greater  cause  to 
rebel,  they  were,  to  my  sorrow,  loyal  Tories. 

I  was  not  without  younger  friends,  for  to 
Belvoir  came  the  Carlyles,  cousins  of  the 
Fairfaxes  from  Alexandria,  my  own  cousin 
Lawrence,  with  my  dear  cousin  Kobin 


72  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

Washington  of  Choptank,  and  many  more, 
such  as  the  Carys,  Mrs.  Fairfax's  kindred, 
the  Masons,  and  my  sister  Betty,  a  great 
favourite.  But  of  all  these  people,  the  Lord 
Fairfax  most  affected  my  life,  and  indirectly 
prepared  me  for  the  career  of  a  frontier 
officer.  At  this  time  he  was  fifty-nine  years 
old.  Although  a  heavy  man,  he  was  a  fine 
horseman;  and  as  I  never  was  tired  of  the 
saddle,  we  were  much  engaged  in  the  hunt 
ing  of  wild  foxes,  or,  lacking  these,  of  foxes 
bagged  by  the  negroes  and  let  loose  for  the 
sport.  He  was  a  man  who  disliked  women, 
and  avoided  society,  or  was  inclined  to  be 
silent  in  company;  but  with  me  he  was  a 
most  lively  companion,  and  would  tell  me  of 
Oxford,  and  of  having  written  papers  in 
the  "Spectator,"  which  I  had  then  begun 
to  read.  My  sister  Betty  was  inclined  to 
be  merry  over  his  lordship's  fancy  to  have 
me  ride  and  hunt  with  him,  saying  that  as 
I  never  talked  except  to  answer  questions, 
and  his  lordship  talked  only  once  a  week, 
we  were  well  matched.  My  brother  Law 
rence  considered  her  wanting  in  respect, 
and  that  his  lordship  might  be  of  much 
service  to  me.  I  could  talk  when  occasion 
served,  but  I  had  been  taught  that  it  was 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  73 

for  my  elders  to  choose  whether  I  should 
talk  or  not.  There  were  times  when  his 
lordship  was  pleased  to  encourage  me  in 
the  asking  of  questions,  and  at  other  times 
liked  to  puzzle  me  with  matters  beyond 
my  years. 


XI 


IN  this  pleasant  company  of  William 
Fairfax  and  his  wife,  and  my  friend 
George  William,  his  son,  I  saw  with  profit 
something  of  the  ways  and  manners  of  per 
sons  of  consideration,  and,  being  by  nature 
observant,  profited  accordingly.  Indeed,  the 
Lord  Fairfax  more  than  once  commended 
the  matter  to  my  attention,  saying  that 
good  and  fitting  manners  to  men  of  all 
classes  would  often  obtain  what  could  not 
be  otherwise  as  easily  had.  I  do  not  now 
recall  the  phrase  he  used,  but,  if  I  recol 
lect,  it  was  out  of  a  letter  written  to  Sir 
Philip  Sidney  by  his  father. 

I  find  it  curious  to  recall  how  at  this 
time  I  appeared  to  others,  and,  concerning 
this,  I  have  found  a  letter  addressed  by 
Lord  Fairfax  to  my  mother.  In  one  of 
her  sudden  and  often  brief  ambitions  for 
me,  she  desired  to  know  of  his  lordship 

74 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  75 

whether  it  would  not  be  well  for  me,  like 

Mr.  C and  Colonel  H ,  to  go  to 

Oxford.  When  riding  with  the  old  gentle 
man  the  next  day,  he  told  me  of  her  wish. 
I  was  surprised,  but  even  then  I  knew  she 
would,  at  the  last  minute,  change  her  mind, 
and  I  said  as  much,  with  due  respect.  For 
a  time  he  rode  on  in  silence,  and  at  last 
said:  " Young  man,  this  is  your  country; 
stay  here.  What  do  you  want  to  do?"  I 
said  boldly  I  should  like  to  be  a  surveyor 
and  help  in  the  settling  and  surveying  of 
his  lordship's  lands  in  the  valley.  He  said 
I  was  young  to  contend  among  hostile  squat 
ters,  but  he  would  talk  with  Lawrence  of 
it.  I  heard  no  more  of  Oxford,  and  this 
is  the  answer  he  made  my  mother.  It  seems 
to  me  as  I  read  this  letter,  after  the  lapse 
of  forty-nine  years,  that  what  his  lord 
ship  wrote  was  very  near  to  the  truth; 
nevertheless,  it  greatly  displeased  my 
mother.  But  she  was  always  displeased 
with  any  one  who  did  not  agree  with  her, 
which,  indeed,  was  hard  to  do,  as  sister 
Betty  Lewis  once  said,  because,  when 
ever  for  peace  you  were  on  her  side,  you 
found  that  she  had  changed  to  the  opposite 
opinion. 


76  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

He  wrote : 

Belvoir. 

HONOURED  MADAM  :  You  are  so  good  as  to  ask 
what  I  think  of  a  temporary  residence  for  your 
son  George  in  England.  It  is  a  country  for  which 
I  myself  have  no  inclination,  and  the  gentlemen 
you  mention  are  certainly  renowned  gamblers  and 
rakes,  which  I  should  be  sorry  your  son  were  ex 
posed  to,  even  if  his  means  easily  admitted  of  a 
residence  in  England.  He  is  strong  and  hardy, 
and  as  good  a  master  of  a  horse  as  any  could  de 
sire.  His  education  might  have  been  bettered, 
but  what  he  has  is  accurate  and  inclines  him  to 
much  life  out  of  doors.  He  is  very  grave  for 
one  of  his  age,  and  reserved  in  his  intercourse ; 
not  a  great  talker  at  any  time.  His  mind  appears 
to  me  to  act  slowly,  but,  on  the  whole,  to  reach 
just  conclusions,  and  he  has  an  ardent  wish  to 
see  the  right  of  questions— what  my  friend  Mr. 
Addison  was  pleased  to  call  "the  intellectual  con 
science."  Method  and  exactness  seem  to  be  natu 
ral  to  George.  He  is,  I  suspect,  beginning  to  feel 
the  sap  rising,  being  in  the  spring  of  life,  and  is 
getting  ready  to  be  the  prey  of  your  sex,  where 
fore  may  the  Lord  help  him,  and  deliver  him  from 
the  nets  those  spiders,  called  women,  will  cast  for 
his  ruin.  I  presume  him  to  be  truthful  because 
he  is  exact.  I  wish  I  could  say  that  he  governs 
his  temper.  He  is  subject  to  attacks  of  anger  on 
provocation,  and  sometimes  without  just  cause ; 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  77 

but  as  he  is  a  reasonable  person,  time  will  cure 
him  of  this  vice  of  nature,  and  in  fact  he  is,  in  my 
judgment,  a  man  who  will  go  to  school  all  his 
life  and  profit  thereby. 

I  hope,  madam,  that  you  will  find  pleasure  in 
what  I  have  written,  and  will  rest  assured  that 
I  shall  continue  to  interest  myself  in  his  for 
tunes. 

Much  honoured  by  your  appeal  to  my  judg 
ment,  I  am,  my  dear  madam,  your  obedient  hum 
ble  servant, 

Fairfax. 

To  Mrs.  Mary  Washington 

My  nephew  Bushrod  Washington,  in  ar 
ranging  my  papers,  placed  all  my  Fairfax 
letters  in  one  packet,  and  thus  it  chances 
that  lying  next  to  this  one  is  a  letter  from 
Bryan  Fairfax,  the  brother  of  my  older 
friend,  written  in  1778  from  New  York.  I 
am  pleased  to  find  it  here,  and  thus  to  be 
reminded  of  the  vast  changes  through  which 
time  gives  us  opportunities.  I  had  been 
able  to  stop  the  Whigs  in  New  York  from 
offensive  attacks  upon  this  gentleman,  and 
on  this  he  wrote : 

There  are  times  when  favours  conferred  make 
a  greater  impression  than  at  others  5  for,  though 


78  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

I  have  received  many,  I  hope  I  have  not  been  un 
mindful  of  them  j  yet  that,  at  a  time  your  popu 
larity  was  at  the  highest  and  mine  at  the  lowest, 
and  when  it  is  so  common  for  men's  political  re 
sentments  to  run  up  so  high  against  those  who 
differ  from  them  in  opinion,  you  should  act  with 
your  wonted  kindness  toward  me,  has  affected  me 
more  than  any  favour  I  have  received ;  and  such 
conduct  could  not  be  believed  by  some  in  New 
York,  it  being  above  the  run  of  common  minds. 

When  Lord  Fairfax  died  in  his  ninety- 
second  year,  my  old  comrade,  this  Bryan 
Fairfax,  became  the  heir  to  his  title,  but  I 
believe  never  allowed  himself  the  use  of  it, 
and,  becoming  a  clergyman  of  our  church, 
is  still  thus  engaged. 

The  finding  of  these  two  letters  moved 
me  more  than  common.  Two  matters  are 
alluded  to  in  his  lordship's  letter  to  my 
mother  which,  otherwise,  I  might  not  have 
reminded  myself  of,  and  yet  one  of  them 
had  an  important  influence  on  my  life. 

I  had  been  told,  of  a  Sunday  morning, 
of  a  great  flock  of  ducks,  of  the  kind  called 
canvasback,  and  much  esteemed.  It  was 
against  our  habits  to  shoot  on  this  day, 
but  towards  evening,  the  temptation  being 
great,  I  went  to  the  shore  and  was  about  to 


THE  YOUTH  OF   WASHINGTON  79 

push  off,  when  Peter,  using  the  liberty  of 
an  old  family  servant,  said  I  would  make 
Mr.  Fairfax  and  my  brother,  then  like  my 
self  at  Belvoir,  angry  if  I  went.  When  he 
held  on  to  the  prow  to  stay  me,  I  suddenly 
lost  my  temper  and  struck  him  with  an  oar 
on  the  head.  He  fell  down  and  lay  in  a  sort 
of  a  shake.  I  thought  he  was  killed,  and 
had  he  been  white  I  must  surely  have  put  an 
end  to  him;  but  the  blacks  have  thick  skulls, 
and  presently  he  got  up  and  staggered  away, 
his  head  bleeding.  I  was  both  sorry  and 
scared,  for  he  would  not  wait  when  I  called, 
but  walked  off  to  the  quarters  of  the  slaves. 
I  stood  still  a  minute,  and  then  went  to 
the  house  and  told  Lawrence,  and  asked 
him  to  have  the  man  looked  after.  Law 
rence,  being  very  angry,  said :  ' '  This  comes 
of  your  hot  temper.  Once  our  father  nearly 
killed  a  man  for  a  small  matter,  and  that 
cured  him;  I  hope  this  may  cure  you."  I 
said  nothing,  and  went  to  see  if  the  man 
was  badly  hurt.  Peter  only  laughed  and 
said:  "Master  George,  you  hit  mighty 
hard."  I  liked  the  man,  and,  although  no 
one  else  spoke  of  the  matter  again,  it  had 
more  effect  on  me  than  the  many  good  reso 
lutions  I  had  written  or  made  as  to  keeping 


80  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

my  temper.  I  have  rarely  lost  it  completely 
since  that  time:  once  at  Monmouth,  once 
after  Edmund  Randolph's  treachery,  and 
once  when  General  Knox,  then  of  my  cabi 
net,  showed  me  a  vile  caricature  of  myself 
being  guillotined. 


XII 

EKE  other  men,  I  have  had  my  times  of 
being  irritable,  but  open  anger  is  with 
me  like  to  a  tornado,  and  if  I  give  way  I 
am  as  is  a  ship  in  a  storm  when  no  anchors 
hold.  General  Hamilton,  on  one  occasion, 
observed  to  me  that  there  were  some  tal 
ents  which  it  was  good  that  men  should 
know  you  to  be  possessed  of,  because  once 
they  were  aware  of  this,  you  were  not  so 
apt  to  be  called  upon  to  use  them,  and  this 
may  be  true  of  that  rage  of  anger  I  now 
speak  of.  But  I  cannot  think  it  a  thing  of 
value,  nor  of  any  real  use;  for  if  ,it  follow 
another's  actions,  it  can  do  no  good,  and 
there  are  better  ways  of  showing  disappro 
bation. 

The  other  matter  to  which  his  lordship 
alludes  is  that  I  was,  at  this  time,  the  vic 
tim  of  one  of  those  attachments  to  a  lady 
older  than  myself  from  which  lads  are  apt 
to  suffer.  It  was  not  the  last,  for  in  the 

81 


82  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

composition  of  the  human  frame  there  is 
a  good  deal  of  inflammable  matter.  My 
fancy  lasted  for  some  months,  but  was 
cured  at  last  by  hard  work  and  life  in  the 
saddle.  It  was  full  time  that  I  got  away 
from  the  easy  hospitality  of  Bdvoir  and 
Mount  Vernon.  A  masterful  nature  amid 
slaves  is  not  so  well  situated  as  among 
scenes  where  he  has  to  contend  with  those 
who  can  resist.  Since  I  became  a  man  I 
never  approved  of  human  slavery,  and 
surely  the  worst  thing  ever  done  to  the  colo 
nies  was  the  act  of  England  in  forcing  upon 
us  an  endurance  of  the  trade  in  slaves.  The 
evil  results  of  this  tyranny  I  do  not  propose 
to  discuss  fully,  but  sure  I  am  that  the  con 
tinuance  of  this  form  of  servitude  will  some 
day  give  rise  to  troubles.  I  find  myself, 
however,  inclined  to  believe  that  the  habit 
of  mastery,  also  the  aristocratic  turn  which 
society  acquired  in  Virginia,  had  a  certain 
value  in  our  war  with  the  mother  country. 
In  Virginia  the  minor  officers,  such  as  cap 
tains,  were  of  a  higher  class  than  their  pri 
vates,  and  for  this  reason,  and  on  account 
of  being  from  youth  upward  accustomed  to 
command  obedience  and  exact  discipline, 
were  in  this  respect  well  fitted  for  warfare. 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  83 

In  New  England,  especially,  under  more 
democratic  circumstances,  and  also  because 
there  were  few  slaves,  the  officers,  such 
as  captains  and  lieutenants,  were  unused  to 
control  men  who,  being  of  their  own  class, 
acknowledged  of  late  years  no  such  differ 
ences  of  position  as  in  Virginia,  and  were 
very  insubordinate.  I  found  in  this  state  of 
things  a  serious  obstacle  to  discipline  when 
I  first  took  command  at  Cambridge. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  worthy  of  remark 
that  no  general  officers  of  great  distinction 
were  of  Southern  birth.  All  of  those  on 
whom  I  learned  to  depend  most  largely  were 
born  in  the  North,  or  had  lived  long  in  the 
colonies  north  of  Maryland.  Of  these  were 
the  generals  Knox,  Morgan,  Wayne,  Ham 
ilton,  Montgomery,  Schuyler,  Greene,  and, 
alas !  Arnold ;  and  generally  these  were  men 
who  were  not  of  the  upper  classes.  This  is 
a  matter  which  I  once  had  occasion  to  men 
tion  to  Mr.  Edmund  Pendleton,  who  was  of 
opinion  that,  as  the  first  open  warfare  was 
at  the  North,  and  the  first  army  there  col 
lected,  it  was  natural  that  the  early  oppor 
tunities  and  high  commissions  should  have 
fallen  to  men  of  the  North.  I  was  unable  to 
deny  this,  but  upon  reflection  it  does  not 


84  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

present  to  me  a  satisfactory  explanation, 
since  the  actual  war  lasted  seven  years  and 
afforded  many  chances  to  men  of  all  sec 
tions.  I  find  myself  naturally  drawn  into 
these  reflections  by  the  events  of  my  early 
life,  but  such  interruptions  are  of  no  mo 
ment,  because  I  am  endeavouring,  for  my 
own  satisfaction  and  with  no  thought  of 
others,  to  consider  rather  how  certain  steps 
in  life  prepared  me  for  larger  tasks,  than 
with  a  view  to  any  connected  narration. 

There  lived  near  Mount  Vernon  at  this 
time  a  man  named  Van  Braam,  a  Dutch 
man,  who,  having  served  under  my  brother 
Lawrence  at  Cartagena,  was  used  at  times 
as  a  clerk.  He  was  a  slight,  wiry  little  man, 
and  dependent  in  those  days  on  my  bro 
ther's  aid.  He  spoke  French,  but  whether 
well  or  ill  I  was  too  ignorant  to  know;  yet, 
because  of  his  supposed  knowledge, he  came 
later  to  be  the  innocent  means  of  getting 
himself  and  me  into  unpleasant  difficulties. 
Like  Lawrence,  he  was  an  accomplished 
swordsman;  and  I  received  from  him  les 
sons  in  the  small  sword,  and  became  myself 
expert  in  this,  as  I  have  usually  been  in  all 
exercise  involving  strength  and  accuracy, 
being  more  quick  of  body  than  of  mind. 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  85 

This  talent  of  the  sword  was  an  accom 
plishment  which  I  never  had  to  use  per 
sonally,  nor  have  I  ever  been  so  unfortunate 
as  to  have  needed  it  in  the  duel.  Experi 
ence  has  proved  that  chance  is  often  as 
much  concerned  in  these  encounters  as 
bravery,  and  always  more  than  the  justice 
of  the  cause.  I  felt  regret  that  my  friend, 
General  Cadwalader,  should  have  exposed 
a  valuable  life  to  the  pistol  of  a  man  like 
General  Conway,  especially  since  the  real 
cause  of  the  quarrel  was,  I  am  assured,  lan 
guage  used  by  the  latter  which  my  friend 
knew  I  could  not  resent. 

Indeed,  in  an  affair  like  that  of  these  two 
generals,  it  would  have  been  reasonable  to 
have  decided  by  lot  which  was  wrong ;  for  a 
farthing  was  tossed  as  to  who  should  be 
first  to  fire,  and  both  were  good  shots. 
Happily,  my  friend  was  fortunate,  and  the 
other,  who  had  considered  his  honour 
wounded,  was  now  in  addition  wounded  in 
his  tongue— the  organ  which  made  all  the 
mischief. 

This  lamentable  manner  of  settling  dis 
putes  was  the  occasion,  while  we  lay  at  the 
Valley  Forge,  of  our  losing  valuable  offi 
cers.  I  have  always  discouraged  it.  Many 


86  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

of  the  duels  in  the  war  might  have  been 
avoided  by  the  help  of  judicious  friends. 
When  Captain  Paul  Jones  desired  to  call 
out  Mr.  Arthur  Lee,  I  dissuaded  him  from 

asking  my  friends,  the  two  C s,  to  be 

his  advisers,  on  account  of  the  too  pug 
nacious  tendencies  of  these  gentlemen  of 
Welsh  blood. 


XIII 

THE  question  of  whether  I  should  be 
come  a  surveyor  by  profession  was 
much  debated  among  us.  My  youth  was 
against  it,  but  I  was  in  strength  and  serious 
ness  older  than  my  years.  My  mother  op 
posed  it,  as  she  did  every  change,  being  of 
those  who  are  defeated  beforehand  by  ob 
stacles.  Without  any  better  plan  of  life  to 
offer,  she  insisted  that  it  was  not  an  occu 
pation  for  a  gentleman.  This  was,  in  a 
measure,  true  in  Virginia.  The  bounds  of 
estates  were  often  vague  or  contested,  and 
there  was  a  strong  prejudice  against  the 
persons  employed  to  settle  these  disputes, 
or  who  were  engaged  in  laying  out  new 
plantations  beyond  the  Alleghanies,  and 
who  took  daily  wages,  like  mechanics. 

The  planters  settled  on  the  tide-water 
coast  or  on  the  rich  river  lands  were  long 
since  uneasy  because  they  feared  the  set 
tlements  made  inland  might  interfere  with 

87 


88  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

their  control  of  the  trade  in  tobacco,  in  the 
culture  of  which  they  were  exhausting  the 
soil.  At  one  time  the  king  endeavoured  to 
prevent  settlements  beyond  the  mountains, 
under  the  pretence  that  they  would  be  too 
little  under  government.  It  was  believed, 
however,  that  the  jealousy  of  the  long-set 
tled  planters  was  the  real  means  of  bringing 
about  this  decree,  which  no  one  obeyed. 
The  more  enterprising  families,  who  were 
disposed  to  engage  in  the  acquisition  of 
such  lands,  were  looked  upon  with  suspi 
cion.  Nor  were  their  active  agents  re 
garded  with  favour.  Indeed,  long  after 
wards  I  was  subject  to  reproach  because 
of  having  been  engaged  in  the  occupation 
of  a  surveyor  of  lands.  The  prejudice  en 
tertained  by  the  gentry  of  Virginia  was  not 
without  foundation  in  the  character  of 
many  of  those  who  were  thus  employed,  for 
they  were  not  all  of  a  decent  class,  and  were 
subject  to  be  influenced  by  bribes,  so  that 
out  of  their  misconduct  arose  many  tedious 
disputes  as  to  boundaries. 

Although  among  my  elders  there  was 
much  discussion  as  to  my  choice  of  a  means 
of  livelihood,  I  cannot  remember  that  it  in 
any  way  affected  my  own  resolutions  or, 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  89 

in  the  end,  those  of  my  brothers.  It  was 
finally  concluded  that  I  was  to  serve  under 
Mr.  Genn,  my  former  instructor  in  survey 
ing,  and  was  to  be  accompanied  by  Mr. 
George  William  Fairfax  on  a  visit  to  the 
estate  of  Lord  Fairfax. 

The  prospect  of  being  able  to  earn  my 
own  living,  and  of  a  life  in  the  wilderness, 
filled  me  with  pleasure,  and  I  set  about  pre 
paring  flints,  powder,  and  shot  for  the  new 
fowling-piece  his  lordship  was  so  kind  as  to 
give  me.  I  had  the  foresight,  also,  to  take 
some  lessons  in  the  shoeing  of  horses,  and, 
after  a  visit  to  my  mother,  was  fully  pre 
pared  for  my  journey. 

I  hold  it  most  fortunate  that  my  own 
inclinations  and  the  good  sense  of  my  bro 
thers  set  me  to  work  at  a  time  of  life  when 
temptations  are  most  dangerous  because  of 
their  novelty.  Many  of  the  young  men  I 
knew  became  brutal  from  contact  with 
slaves,  and  spent  their  lives,  like  some  of 
their  elders,  in  fighting  cocks  and  dogs  and 
in  running  quarter-races.  A  few  men  were 
brought  up  to  professions;  but  as  estates 
were  entailed  on  elder  sons,  or  they,  at  least, 
received  the  larger  portions,  and  there  was 
no  army  or  navy,  the  younger  sons  were 


90  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

generally  without  occupation  and  apt  to 
fall  into  evil  ways.  I  little  knew,  when  I 
rode  away,  how  fortunate  was  my  choice. 

We  set  out  on  March  11,  1747,  George 
William  Fairfax  and  I,  with  two  servants 
and  a  led  horse,  loaded  with  a  pack  and 
such  baggage  as  could  not  be  carried  in 
saddle-bags.  I  was  at  this  time  ill,  not  hav 
ing  recovered  from  an  attack  of  the  ague; 
but  the  action  of  the  horse  and  the  feeling 
of  adventure  helped  me,  so  that  in  a  day 
or  two  I  left  off  taking  of  Jesuits '  bark,  and 
was  none  the  worse. 

I  have  now  before  me  the  diary  I  kept 
as  a  lad  of  near  sixteen  years.  It  was  not 
so  well  kept  as  it  was  later,  but  already  in 
it  I  discover  with  interest  that  it  turns  to 
practical  matters,  like  the  value  of  the  land 
and  what  could  be  produced  on  it. 

As  we  were  soon  joined  by  my  old  mas 
ter  in  surveying,  James  Genn,  I  learned  a 
great  deal  more  of  his  useful  art,  and  usu 
ally  earned  a  doubloon  a  day,  but  some 
times  six  pistoles.  Although  the  idea  of 
daily  wages  was  unpleasant  to  Virginians 
of  my  class,  I  remember  that  it  made  me 
feel  independent,  and  set  a  sort  of  value 
upon  me  which  reasonably  fed  my  esteem 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  91 

of  myself,  which  was,  I  do  believe,  never 
too  great. 

Our  journey  was  without  risks,  except 
the  rattlesnakes,  and  the  many  smaller  ver 
min  which  inhabited  the  blankets  in  the 
cabins  of  the  squatters. 

I  remember  with  pleasure  the  evening 
when  I  first  saw  the  great  fertile  valley 
after  we  came  through  Ashby  's  Gap  in  the 
Blue  Ridge.  The  snows  were  still  melting, 
and  on  this  account  the  streams  were  high 
and  the  roads  the  worst  that  could  ever  be 
seen,  even  in  Virginia.  The  greatness  of 
the  trees  I  remember,  and  my  surprise  that 
the  Indians  should  have  so  much  good  in 
vention  in  their  names,  as  when  they  called 
the  river  of  the  valley  the  Shen-an-do-ali— 
that  is,  the  Daughter  of  the  Stars ;  but  why 
so  named  I  never  knew. 

In  this  great  vale  were  the  best  of  Lord 
Fairfax's  lands.  Near  to  where  this  stream 
joins  the  Potomac  were  many  clearings,  of 
which  we  had  to  make  surveys  and  insist  on 
his  lordship's  ownership.  Here  were  no 
hardships,  and  much  pleasure  in  the  pursuit 
of  game,  especially  wild  turkeys.  I  learned 
to  cook,  and  how  to  make  a  bivouac  com 
fortable,  and  many  things  which  are  part 


92  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

of  the  education  of  the  woods.  Only  four 
nights  did  I  sleep  in  a  bed,  and  then  had 
more  small  company  than  I  liked  to  enter 
tain. 

I  copy  here  as  it  was  wrote  by  me,  a 
lad  of  sixteen,  what  we  saw  on  a  Wednes 
day.  It  might  have  been  better  spelled. 

At  evening  we  were  agreeably  surprised  by 
ye  sight  of  thirty  odd  Indians  coming  from  war 
with  only  one  scalp.  We  gave  them  some  liquor, 
which,  elevating  their  spirits,  put  them  in  ye  hu 
mour  of  dancing.  They  seat  themselves  around 
a  great  fire,  and  one  leaps  up  as  if  out  of  a  sleep, 
and  runs  and  jumps  about  ye  ring  in  a  most 
cornicle  manner,-  afterward  others.  Then  begins 
there  musicians  to  pla}^  and  to  beat  a  pot  half 
full  of  water,  with  a  deer-skin  tied  tight  over  it, 
and  a  gourd  with  some  shott  in  it  to  rattle,  and 
piece  of  a  horse  tail  tied  to  it  to  make  it  look  fine. 

The  Dutch,  then  of  late  come  in  from 
Pennsylvania,  I  found  an  uncouth  people, 
who,  having  squatted,  as  we  say,  on  lands 
not  their  own,  hoped  to  acquire  cheap  titles. 
They  were  merry  and  full  of  antic  tricks. 
I  talked  with  some  by  an  interpreter  and 
heard  them  say  they  cared  not  who  were  the 
masters,  French  or  English,  if  only  they 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  93 

were  let  to  farm  their  lands.  This  amazed 
me,  who  was  brought  up  to  despise  the 
French  as  frog-eating  folk,  and,  indeed,  this 
indifference  of  the  Dutch  became  a  matter 
of  concern  when  we  had  a  war  with  the 
French. 

After  one  night  in  a  Dutch  cabin  I  liked 
better  a  bearskin  and  the  open  air,  for  it 
was  not  to  my  taste  to  lie  down  on  straw- 
very  populous— or  on  a  skin  with  a  man, 
wife,  and  squalling  babies,  like  dogs  and 
cats,  and  to  cast  lots  who  should  be  nearest 
the  fire. 

I  did  not  like  these  people,  and  the  In 
dians  interested  me  more.  Genn  under 
stood  their  tongue  well  enough  to  talk  with 
them,  and  the  way  they  had  of  sign-lan 
guage  pleased  Lord  Fairfax,  because,  he 
said,  you  could  not  talk  too  much  in  signs 
or  easily  abuse  your  neighbour ;  but  I  found 
they  had  a  sign  for  cutting  a  man's  throat, 
and  it  seemed  to  me  that  was  quite  enough, 
and  worse  than  abuse.  Mr.  Genn  warned 
me  that  one  of  their  great  jokes  was,  when 
shaking  hands  with  white  men,  to  squeeze 
so  as  to  give  pain.  Being  warned,  I  gave 
the  chief  who  was  called  Big  Bear  such 
a  grip  that,  in  his  surprise,  he  cried  out,  and 


94  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

thus  much  amused  the  other  warriors.  This 
incident  is  not  in  my  diary,  and  I  find  it 
remarkable  that  now,  after  so  many  years, 
it  should  come  to  mind,  when  even  some 
more  serious  affairs  are  quite  forgot. 


XIV 

ARLY  in  April,  having  completed  our 
iJ  work,  I  crossed  the  mountains  afoot  to 
the  Great  Cacapehon,  and,  passing  over  the 
Blue  Ridge,  on  April  12  found  myself  again 
at  Mount  Vernon.  But  before  that  I  first 
rode  on  to  Belvoir,  that  I  might  be  prompt 
to  answer  his  lordship's  questions.  All  he 
would  talk  about  was  how  to  get  horse  and 
man  over  rivers,  and  of  a  way  I  learned  of 
an  Indian  to  wade  across  a  strong  swift 
stream  safely,  even  breast-high,  by  carry 
ing  a  heavy  stone  to  keep  me  on  my  feet. 
He  advised  me  to  learn  the  sign-language 
of  the  savages. 

He  was  soon  to  set  out  for  the  valley, 
where  he  meant  to  lay  out  the  manor  of 
Greenway  Court  and  there  reside.  He  de 
sired  me  to  come  and  help  to  survey  his 
great  domain. 

There  must  be  some  natural  taste  in 
man  for  the  life  in  the  woods,  and,  for  my 

95 


96  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

part,  I  longed  ever  to  return  to  them,  of 
which,  sooner  or  later,  I  had  many  oppor 
tunities.  Nor  did  the  free  life  make  me 
less,  but  rather  more,  practical,  and  I 
learned  to  observe  the  trees,  and  how  the 
land  lay,  and  the  meadows,  whether  liable 
to  flood  or  not,  all  of  which  enabled  me 
not  only  to  serve  my  employers  well,  but 
was  of  use  to  me  when  I  became  able  to 
purchase  land  myself. 

About  this  time  the  influence  of  Lord 
Fairfax  and  my  brothers  obtained  for  me 
the  place  of  surveyor  of  the  county  of  Cul- 
peper.  I  saw,  a  few  years  ago,  in  the  rec 
ords  of  Culpeper  Court  House,  under  date 
of  July  20,  1749,  that  George  Washington, 
gentleman,  produced  a  commission  from 
the  president  and  masters  of  William  and 
Mary  College  appointing  him  to  be  a  sur 
veyor  of  the  county,  whereupon  he  took  the 
oath  to  his  Majesty's  person  and  govern 
ment,  and  subscribed  the  abjuration  oath, 
the  test,  etc. 

I  recall  now  the  pleasure  this  formal  ap 
pointment  gave  me.  Although  I  was  then 
but  seventeen  years  old,  I  was  much  trusted 
and  was  soon  busily  employed,  because  of 
my  exactness,  and  because  it  was  known 


THE  YOUTH  OF   WASHINGTON  9? 

that  I  could  not  be  bribed;  and  thus  for 
over  two  years  I  pursued  this  occupation. 
His  lordship  had  long  since  this  time  left 
his  cousin's  house  of  Belvoir  and  gone  to 
live  in  the  valley,  in  his  steward's  house, 
which  now  he  bettered  and  enlarged  for  his 
own  use,  meaning  soon  to  build  a  great 
mansion-house,  which  he  never  did. 

His  home  was  a  long,  low  stone  dwelling, 
with  a  sloped  roof,  and  many  coops  where 
swallows  came,  and  bird-cotes  under  the 
eaves,  and  around  it  on  all  sides  a  wide 
porch,  with,  in  every  direction,  the  great 
forest  of  gum  and  hickory  and  oaks,  and 
the  tulip-trees.  I  found  the  roads  much  im 
proved  on  my  first  visit,  and  many  out 
buildings  for  slaves  and  others,  with  ken 
nels  for  the  hounds  his  lordship  loved  to 
follow.  My  own  room  was  ever  after  kept 
for  me.  It  had  a  wide  dormer-window,  and 
next  to  it  a  room  with  more  books  than  I 
had  ever  seen  before,  except  at  Westover, 
Colonel  Byrd's  great  mansion. 

I  never  passed  the  time  more  agreeably. 
When  not  absent  laying  out  land,  we 
hunted  and  shot  game,  especially  wild  tur 
keys,  which  abounded;  and  when  the  wea 
ther  served  us  ill  I  read  the  history  of 


98  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

England,  and  tried  to  please  his  lordship 
by  reading  Shakspere  and  other  books  of 
verse.  But  although  I  had  by  hard  labor 
managed  to  lay  out  and  plot  verses  to  cer 
tain  young  women,  I  never  found  much 
pleasure  in  the  use  of  the  imagination,  nor 
in  what  others  made  of  it.  It  seemed  to 
me  tedious  and  without  practical  value,  nor 
did  it  amuse  me  except  when  it  was  in  a 
play. 

For  days  at  a  time  I  sometimes  saw 
nothing  of  this  kind  but  eccentric  noble 
man.  A  woman  in  England  was  said  to 
have  wounded  his  life,  and  it  was  rare  that 
we  had  any  female  guests  at  Greenway 
Court,  except  Anne  Gary,  the  sister  of 
George  William  Fairfax's  wife.  I  found 
it  not  good  for  me  to  be  in  her  company, 
for  in  some  way  she  brought  to  my  mind 
a  boy  love,  which  I  had  resolved  no  more  to 
entertain,  but  which  I  found  it  difficult  to 
master. 

Miss  Gary  stayed  no  long  time,  and  others 
came  and  went,  but  for  the  most  part  I 
had  his  lordship  to  myself.  There  were 
days  when  he  was  absent  in  the  woods  with 
a  servant,  or  alone.  At  others  he  would 
remain  all  day  shut  up  in  a  small  log  house, 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  99 

not  over  fifteen  feet  square,  where  he  slept, 
and,  as  he  said,  very  ill.  It  was  his  cus 
tom,  however,  to  join  me  at  supper,  and 
then  to  remain  smoking,  which  I  never 
learned,  and  taking  his  punch.  He  was 
either  full  of  talk  or  so  silent  that  we  would 
not  exchange  a  word  while  he  sat  staring 
into  the  fire.  Sometimes,  when  tired,  I  fell 
asleep,  and,  on  waking,  found  him  gone  to 
"bed.  When  disposed  for  conversation,  he 
was  apt  to  be  bitter  about  his  native  land, 
and  once  said  that  the  best  part  of  it  had 
come  away. 

My  brother  Lawrence  and  he  were  the 
only  persons  of  our  own  class  I  ever  knew 
in  those  days  who,  to  my  surprise,  foresaw 
serious  trouble  from  the  selfish  policy  of 
the  crown  and  the  greed  of  English  mer 
chants,  who  desired  to  keep  us  shut  out  of 
the  natural  way  of  sea  trade.  I  should 
have  been  most  ungrateful,  which  I  never 
was,  had  I  not  felt  my  obligations  to  Lord 
Fairfax.  His  great  wealth  and  high  posi 
tion  kept  even  my  mother  satisfied  that 
what  pleased  my  patron  could  never  be 
complained  of,  and  so,  for  a  season,  I  was 
let  to  go  my  own  way. 

He  led  me  to  feel  sure  that,  soon  or  late, 


100  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

we  must  be  at  war  with  both  France  and 
the  Indians,  or  else  submit  to  be  shut  out 
of  the  fertile  lands  to  the  westward.  He 
was  almost  the  only  Englishman  of  high 
rank  whom  we  saw  in  Virginia.  There  were 
governors  with  their  secretaries,  and  offi 
cers  of  the  army,  but,  except  my  lord,  all  of 
them  regarded  the  gentlemen  of  the  colo 
nies  as  inferior  persons.  This  feeling  was, 
I  apprehend,  due  to  the  fact  that  we  looked 
to  England  for  everything,  and  were  in 
many  ways  kept  as  dependent  as  children. 
He  once  said  to  me  that  we  were  like  slow 
bullocks  that  did  not  know  their  power  to 
resist.  This  was  all  strange  to  a  young 
Virginian  in  those  days.  I  have  lived  to 
see  its  wisdom,  and  now,  as  I  think  of  it, 
am  reminded  that  Mr.  Hamilton  once  wrote 
to  me,  "a  colony  was  always  a  colony,  and 
never  could  be  a  country  until  it  had  al 
together  to  stand  on  its  own  legs. ' ' 

This  was  spoken  of  Canada,  which  un 
wisely  refused  to  make  common  cause  with 
us,  and  will  now  be  for  us  at  least  a  trou 
blesome,  if  not  a  dangerous  neighbour. 

But  to  see  her  in  the  hands  of  France 
was  not,  as  the  matter  presented  itself,  to 
be  desired,  for  which  reason  I  did  not  at 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  101 


a  later  time  encourage  Marquis  Lafayette 
in  his  design  upon  Canada,  knowing  that 
if  we  succeeded  in  the  war,  and  with  French 
troops  were  able  to  take  Canada,  France 
would  claim  it  as  her  share  of  the  spoils, 
and  thus  hem  us  in  from  Louisiana  to  the 
Great  Lakes.  Indeed,  this  was  very  early 
a  constant  fear  throughout  all  the  colonies, 
and  especially  in  New  England,  where  the 
notion  of  being  shut  in  by  a  popish  nation 
added  to  their  uneasiness. 

When  considering  this  matter,  I  recall 
the  effect  of  the  capitulations  of  1759,  for 
at  that  time,  in  order  to  quiet  the  French 
after  England  had  taken  Canada,  and  to 
get  the  Canadians  to  accept  willingly  Eng 
lish  rule,  vast  and  unwise  privileges  were 
granted  to  the  Church  of  Rome.  Still  later 
the  Quebec  Act  of  1774  decreed  that  Quebec 
should  be  held  to  extend  over  all  the  coun 
try  west  of  the  Ohio  and  up  to  the  lakes, 
and  thus  that  the  privileges  enjoyed  by  the 
Romish  Church  should  prevail  over  all  this 
great  dominion. 

While  the  Stamp  Act  and  the  laws  re 
strictive  of  trade  did  variously  annoy  the 
separate  colonies,  the  Quebec  Act  produced 
a  still  more  general  dissatisfaction. 


XV 


WHILE  at  Greenway  Court  I  had 
other  teachers  besides  his  lordship, 
for  many  Indians,  frontier  traders,  and 
trappers  came  to  claim  food  and  shelter, 
which  were  never  denied  them.  Often  the 
woods  were  lighted  up  by  their  fires,  and  I 
found  it  of  use,  and  interesting,  to  hear 
what  was  said  and  to  learn  something  of  the 
uncertain  ways  of  the  savages. 

I  heard  how  the  Delawares,  Shawnees, 
and  Iroquois  had  wandered  from  the  north 
and  taken  to  the  lands  about  the  Ohio,  and 
how  the  French  protected  them  and  claimed 
all  the  country  up  to  the  Alleghanies. 

To  these  camps  came  the  rude,  lawless 
traders  from  Pennsylvania,  who  had  stories 
to  tell  of  the  Indians  and  of  the  French 
beyond  the  Ohio.  These  men  foresaw  a 
war  on  the  frontier  when  scarce  any  others 
did,  and,  by  their  accounts  of  the  fertility 
of  the  wide  savannas  beyond  the  Ohio,  filled 
102 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  103 

me  with  desire  to  explore  this  rich  wilder 
ness.  I  learned  that  already  the  French 
had  warned  the  fur-traders  to  leave  and 
had  driven  away  their  hunters,  and  when 
I  mentioned  this  to  Lawrence  he  said  we 
were  not  easy  folk  to  drive,  and,  least  of 
all,  Pennsylvania  Quakers,  and  that  there 
would  be  trouble,  which  there  was  soon 
enough.  We  were  on  the  edge  of  a  strug 
gle  in  which  all  the  world  was  to  share. 
Meanwhile,  time  went  on,  and  what  Lord 
Fairfax  called  the  "  frontier  pot  r'  was 
boiling. 

I  was  often  back  at  home,  sometimes 
with  my  mother,  or  at  Belvoir,  or  at  Mount 
Vernon,  riding  to  hounds,  surveying,  and 
making  more  than  I  needed  in  the  way  of 
money,  and  enough  to  keep  me  in  horse 
flesh  and  to  give  me  better  clothes,  for 
which  I  have  always  had  a  fancy.  Only  in 
the  woods  I  liked  best  such  dress  as  our 
rangers  wear,  and  good  moccasins  are  the 
best  of  foot-gear.  But  as  to  clothing,  when 
not  in  the  woods,  I  found  in  myself  a  liking 
for  a  plain  genteel  dress  of  the  best,  with 
out  lace  or  embroidery.  Fine  clothes  do 
not  make  fine  men,  and  the  man  must  be 
foolish  who  has  a  better  opinion  of  himself 


104  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

because  his  clothes  are  such  as  the  truly 
judicious  and  sensible  do  not  advise. 

Until  I  had  money  of  my  own  I  did  not 
venture  much  at  cards ;  but  now  I  played  a 
little,  although  I  was  never  fond  of  it,  and 
lost  more  than  I  made.  I  was  more  inclined 
to  the  game  of  billiards. 

If  at  times  I  was  in  danger  of  leaning 
towards  the  rough  ways  of  the  wilderness, 
I  had  the  advantage  of  seeing  at  Mount 
Vernon,  or  at  the  homes  of  the  Carters  and 
Lees,  or  among  the  Lewises  of  Warner 
Hall,  and  elsewhere,  the  older  gentry,  who 
were  orderly  and  ceremonious,  and  who  re 
minded  me  anew  of  his  lordship's  lesson  as 
to  the  value  of  good  manners. 

Sometimes  on  these  great  plantations  I 
was  employed  in  surveys,  but  at  others,  as 
at  Shirley  and  the  Corbins',  I  was  only  a 
guest.  I  was,  I  conceive,  unlike  the  idle 
young  men  of  some  of  these  houses,  for  I 
was  over-grave  and  cared  less  for  card- 
playing  and  hard  drinking  than  suited 
them. 

I  found  myself  at  this  time  preferring 
the  society  of  women,  who  are  always  ami 
ably  disposed  to  overlook  the  shyness  of 
men  like  myself,  and  with  whom  it  is  pos- 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  105 

sible  to  be  agreeable  without  either  punch 
or  tobacco ;  but  racing  of  horses  I  always 
liked,  and  dancing. 

In  those  days  cock-fighting  was  also  to 
my  liking.  I  remember  well,  because  it 
was  at  Yorktown,  a  great  main  of  cocks  in 
1752  between  Gloucester  and  York  for  five 
pistoles  each  battle,  and  one  hundred  the 
odd.  I  was  disappointed  to  leave  before 
it  was  decided.  I  saw  there  a  greater  cock 
fight  in  after  days. 

I  recall  now  that  my  brother  Lawrence 
once  wrote  home  from  Appleby  School  that 
each  boy  must  pay  to  the  master  on  Easter 
Tuesday  a  penny  to  provide  the  school  with 
a  cock-fight. 

As  to  the  hard  drinking  of  rum  and 
bumbo,  Madeira  and  sangaree,  I  never  had 
a  head  for  it,  or  any  liking,  nor  for  the 
English  way  of  locking  doors  until  the  half 
were  under  the  table.  These  things  were 
not  encouraged  in  the  better  houses,  but 
sometimes  they  were  not  to  be  avoided  with 
out  giving  offence.  The  great  war  helped 
to  better  these  foolish  customs,  and  now 
they  are  more  rare. 

I  remember,  about  this  time,  to  have  seen 
such  an  occasion  on  a  hot  day  in  July  at 


106  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

L Hall,  where  I  was  come  to  survey 

a  plot  of  meadow-land.  I  arrived  about 
7  P.M.,  and  I  must  needs  go  at  once  to  sup 
with  a  gay  company  of  men,  very  fine  in 
London  clothes.  I  would  have  excused  my 
self  to  be  of  the  party,  but  no  one  would 
listen  to  me,  and,  although  dusty  and  tired, 
I  was  pulled  in  whether  I  would  or  not.  We 
had  a  great  supper,  and  Madeira  wine,  and 
much  rum  punch,  with  wine-glasses  which 
had  no  stands  or  bottoms  and  must,  there 
fore,  be  kept  in  the  hand  until  emptied. 
When  it  became  very  warm,  negroes  were 
sent  for  to  fan  us  and  to  keep  off  the  flies. 
At  last  there  was  a  dispute  as  to  game 
cocks,  and  two  were  fetched  in,  very  sleepy, 
and  set  on  the  table  to  fight,  which  they 
were  little  of  a  mind  to,  but  were  urged 
until  feathers  and  blood  were  all  over  the 
table.  When  songs  were  sung,  and  most 
very  drunk,  and  the  King  toasted,  I  slipped 
away,  and  would  have  got  out  the  door,  but 
found  it  locked.  Being  unable  to  escape, 
I  was  forced  to  return  to  the  table.  At  last 
a  lighted  candle  having  been  set  before  each 
guest,  our  host  called  on  us  to  rise,  and 
when  he  cried  out  his  toast,  "The  Ladies, 
God  bless  them!"  each  gentleman,  having 


THE  YOUTH  OF   WASHINGTON  107 

drained  his  glass,  used  it  to  extinguish  the 
candle-light  set  before  him.  It  seemed  to 
me  a  strange  custom.  I  took  advantage  of 
the  darkness  to  get  out  of  an  open  window, 
and  was  pursued  by  two  or  three,  who  fell 
on  the  way,  so  that  I  got  back  to  the  house 
and  to  bed,  liking  none  of  it.  But  now  all 
this  is  much  amended,  and  there  is  more 
moderation  in  drinking,  but  still  too  much 
of  this  evil  custom. 

I  am  led  here  to  remark  that  in  the 
War  of  Independency  many  officers  who 
were  otherwise  competent  failed  because  of 
drunkenness,  and,  indeed,  at  Germantown 
this  was  one  cause  of  our  losing  the  battle. 
When  it  became  needful  after  St.  Glair's 
defeat  in  1791  to  appoint  general  officers,  I 
furnished  my  cabinet  with  a  statement  of 
the  names  and  characters  of  such  officers  as, 
having  served  under  me,  I  knew  should  be 
considered.  As  concerned  most  of  them,  I 
found  it  well  to  state  whether  or  not  they 
were  addicted  to  spirits,  so  common  was 
this  practice. 

It  seems  very  remarkable  that  so  few 
gentlemen  should  have  foreseen  what  was 
plain  to  the  trappers  and  dealers  in  furs. 
All  of  the  Ohio  country  was  claimed  by  both 


108  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

French  and  English.  The  Indians,  although 
cheated  and  made  drunk,  were  still  in  pos 
session  of  the  woods  they  considered  to  be 
their  own.  Virginia  claimed  what  Penn 
sylvania,  and  even  Connecticut,  said  was 
theirs;  Pennsylvania  was  reaping  the  only 
harvest  of  the  wilderness,  of  the  value  of 
some  fifty  thousand  pounds  a  year,  the 
trade  in  furs ;  last  of  all,  in  1749,  some  en 
terprising  gentlemen  in  England  and  Vir 
ginia  planned  the  Ohio  Company,  meaning 
to  colonize  even  north  of  the  Ohio. 

When  Mr.  Thomas  Lee,  president  of  the 
council,  died,  my  brother  Lawrence  became 
the  head  of  the  Ohio  Company,  and  all  of 
this,  as  I  now  see,  had  much  to  do  with  the 
next  change  in  my  life.  I  find  it  pleasant 
again  to  dwell  here  on  the  good  sense  and 
liberal  spirit  of  my  brother,  who,  had  his 
life  been  spared,  would  surely  have  been 
chosen  to  do  that  which  has  fallen  to  me. 
His  character  is  well  seen  in  his  desire  that 
the  Dutch  from  Pennsylvania,  whom  he  in 
vited  as  settlers,  being  dissenters  and  hav 
ing  come  into  the  jurisdiction  of  Virginia, 
should  not  be  forced  to  pay  parish  rates 
and  support  clergymen  of  the  Church  of 
England,  as  all  dissenters  were  obliged  to 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  109 

do.  He  urged  that  restraints  of  conscience 
were  cruel,  and  injurious  to  the  country  im 
posing  them,  and  he  wrote : 

I  may  quote  as  example  England,  Holland, 
and  Prussia,  and,  much  more,  Pennsylvania,  which 
has  flourished  under  that  delightful  liberty,  so  as 
to  become  the  admiration  of  every  man  who  con 
siders  the  short  time  it  has  been  settled,  whereas 
Virginia  has  increased  by  slow  degrees,  although 
much  older. 

There,  on  our  borders,  as  Lord  Fairfax 
said,  was  much  powder,  and  only  one  spark 
needed  to  set  it  off.  Meanwhile  Mr.  Gist 
set  out  to  survey  the  grant  of  the  Ohio 
Company,  on  the  south  side  of  the  Ohio 
River,  all  of  which  was  greatly  to  concern 
my  life. 

Virginia  and  Pennsylvania  were,  at  that 
time,  much  stirred  up  by  the  hostile  threats 
of  France,  and  efforts  began  to  be  made 
to  prepare  for  hostilities  on  the  frontier. 
About  this  time,  but  the  exact  date  I  fail 
to  recall,  my  brother  Lawrence  abandoned 
all  concern  in  the  military  line  of  life,  and 
arranged  that  his  place  of  major  in  the 
militia  should  be  given  up  to  me,  and  that 
I  should  also  take  his  position  as  district 
adjutant. 


XVI 

DURING  the  summer  of  1751 1  saw  with 
affectionate  anxiety  a  great  change  in 
the  health  of  my  brother  Lawrence.  I  re 
member  no  event  of  my  life  which  caused 
me  more  concern.  Since  our  father 's  death 
he  had  been  both  father  and  friend.  Had  it 
not  been  for  him,  I  should  not  have  known 
Mr.  Fairfax  and  his  cousin,  Lord  Fairfax, 
nor  without  their  help  could  I  have  be 
come  employed  in  a  way  which  brought 
about  my  service  on  the  frontier  and  all 
that  came  after.  Thus,  in  the  providence 
of  the  Ruler  of  the  events  of  this  world, 
one  step  leads  on  to  another,  and  we  are 
always  being  educated  for  that  which  is  to 
come. 

At  last,  in  September,  Lawrence,  who 
had  been  long  ill  of  a  phthisical  complaint, 
asked  me  to  go  with  him  to  the  Barbados. 
Therefore,  while  Mr.  Gist's  surveys  on  the 
Ohio  went  on,  and  both  English  and  French 
no 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  111 

were  making  bids  to  secure  the  Indians,  we 
were  on  the  sea.  It  is  far  from  my  purpose 
to  recall  what,  after  a  constant  habit,  is  set 
down  in  my  diary.  I  lost  in  the  Barbados 
what  good  looks  a  clear  skin  gave  me,  be 
cause  of  a  mild  attack  of  smallpox,  such  as 
a  third  of  the  human  race  must  expect,  and 
I  remain  slightly  pitted  to  this  day. 

What  most  struck  me  in  the  islands  was 
the  richness  of  the  soil,  and  yet  that  nearly 
all  the  planters  were  in  debt,  and  estates 
over-billed  and  alienated.  They  were  all 
spendthrifts,  and  I  remind  myself  that  I 
resolved  at  that  time  never  to  be  in  the 
grasp  of  the  enemy  called  t)ebt.  How  per 
sons  coming  to  estates  of  three  hundred  or 
four  hundred  acres  could  want  was  to  me 
most  wonderful. 

Lawrence  now  declared  for  Bermuda,  and 
as  he  seemed  better,  I  felt  able  to  leave  him 
and  return.  To  be  torn  by  the  demands 
of  public  duty  on  the  one  hand  and  by  the 
call  of  affection  on  the  other,  I  have  many 
times  been  subjected  to.  Lawrence  insisted 
that  matters  at  home  made  urgent  my  re 
turn,  and,  indeed,  through  life  I  have  al 
ways  held  that  the  public  service  comes 
first. 


112  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

I  reached  home  in  the  ship  Industry, 
in  February,  1752,  having  had  enough  of 
the  sea  in  a  five  weeks'  voyage,  and  very 
stormy. 

Lawrence  was  at  times  better  and  de 
sired  to  remain  a  year  in  Bermuda,  and  for 
me  to  fetch  his  wife.  But  soon  his  mind 
changed,  and  he  wrote  that  he  was  resolved 
to  hurry  home,  as  he  said,  to  his  grave. 

In  the  little  time  that  was  between  his 
return  and  his  passing  away,  I  was  much 
in  his  company— nor  have  I  ever  since  been 
long  without  thought  of  him ;  for,  although 
I  am  not  disposed  to  speak  much  of  sorrow, 
nor  ever  was,  his  great  patience  under  suf 
fering,  and  how  he  would  never  complain, 
but  comfort  his  wife  and  me  as  if  we  were 
those  in  pain,  and  not  he,  have  often  been 
in  my  mind,  and  particularly  of  late,  since 
the  increase  of  my  own  infirmities  has  re 
minded  me  that  the  end  of  life  cannot  be 
very  remote. 

I  am  of  opinion  that  I  must  have  seemed, 
when  younger,  to  be  a  dull,  plodding  lad; 
but,  as  time  went  on,  Lawrence  came  to 
think  more  of  me  than  did  any,  except  Lord 
Fairfax,  and  in  this  his  last  illness  gave 
me  such  evidence  of  his  esteem  as  greatly 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  113 

strengthened  my  hope  that  I  should  justify 
his  belief  in  me. 

General  Hamilton  once  asked  me  whe 
ther  I  did  not  think  that  at  the  approach 
of  death  men  seem  sometimes  to  acquire 
such  clearness  of  mind  as  they  might  be 
thought  to  obtain  beyond  the  grave.  I  had 
to  reply  that  such  considerations  were  re 
mote  from  my  usual  subjects  of  reflection; 
but  what  he  then  said,  although  I  had  no 
suitable  reply,  reminded  me  of  certain 
things  Lawrence  said  to  me,  and  of  his 
certainty  that  I  should  attain  honourable 
distinction.  I  thought  him  then  more  affec 
tionate  than  just,  for  I  have  never  esteemed 
myself  very  highly ;  but  I  know  that  I  have 
never  ceased  to  do  what  I  believed  to  be 
my  duty,  and  as  to  this  my  conscience  is 
clear. 

My  dear  Lawrence  died  at  Mount  Ver- 
non,  July  12,  1752,  aged  thirty-five  years, 
and  thus  I  lost  the  man  who  had  most  be 
friended  me.  As  his  infant  daughter  Sarah 
inherited  his  estate,  and  I,  although  only 
twenty  years  old,  was  one  of  his  executors, 
my  time  was  fully  occupied  by  this  and  by 
the  increase  of  public  duties,  which  were 
made  heavy  by  the  want  of  good  officers 


114  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

and  by  the  insubordination  and  drunken 
ness  of  their  men.  Even  then  I  saw  what 
must  come  of  it  all  if  we  had  a  serious 
war,  for  the  militia  could  not  by  law  be 
used  more  than  five  miles  outside  of  the 
colony,  and  we  should  have  to  rely  upon 
volunteers  for  more  extended  service. 

The  little  maid,  my  niece,  at  Mount  Ver- 
non,  did  not  live  long  after  her  father 's 
death,  and  thus,  as  I  have  before  stated,  in 
1754  the  estate  fell  to  me  under  the  will 
of  my  father.  It  wa,s  charged  with  a  life- 
interest  in  favour  of  my  brother's  wife,  who 
soon  married  Mr.  George  Lee  of  West 
moreland.  I  was  obligated  to  pay  her  fif 
teen  thousand  pounds  of  tobacco  yearly; 
and  as  the  estate,  because  of  Lawrence's 
illness,  had  fallen  away,  I  was  little  the 
better  for  the  property  until  her  death  in 
1761. 


XVII 

ON  my  brother's  return,  although  very 
ill,  he  interested  himself  in  my  future, 
and  it  was,  no  doubt,  in  part  due  to  his  in 
fluence  that,  before  his  death,  I  was  called  to 
Williamsburg,  the  seat  of  government,  by 
Governor  Dinwiddie,  who  told  me  he  was 
advised  to  make  me  one  of  the  adjutant- 
generals.  To  my  surprise,  he  seemed  to 
consider  me  competent,  and,  owing  to  my 
brother,  and  probably  also  to  the  advice  of 
the  Fairfaxes,  I  received  this  appointment 
for  the  Northern  Division,  one  of  the  four 
now  newly  created,  with  the  rank  of  major 
and  one  hundred  and  fifty  colonial  pounds 
a  year. 

To  this  day  I  do  not  fully  understand 
why  I  so  easily  secured  this  important  ap 
pointment.  I  was  only  nineteen  and  knew 
nothing  of  war.  As  I  consider  the  matter, 
there  were  many  more  experienced  men, 
who,  like  Lawrence,  had  served  at  sea  and 

115 


116  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

on  land.  The  other  adjutants  were  older 
than  I.  One  of  them  said  I  would  have  a 
bitter  business,  for  the  chief  use  of  the 
militia  was  to  search  negro  cabins  for  arms 
and  to  get  drunk  on  training-days.  Never 
theless,  as  I  knew  well  enough,  there  was 
good  stuff  in  the  men  of  Virginia,  and  no 
better  could  be  found  than  the  men  of  the 
frontier,  who  were  expert  with  the  rifle  and 
were  more  than  a  match  for  the  Indians. 
As  I  learned  from  Lawrence,  the  candi 
dates  for  these  places  of  adjutant  were 
either  too  old  or  were  men  of  drunken 
habits;  and  as  to  the  wandering  soldiers  of 
fortune  who  had  had  experience  in  war, 
they  were  not  gentlemen  of  our  own  class, 
and  this,  I  understood,  was  a  question 
which  the  governor  and  council  considered 
important. 

When  I  went  again  to  accept  and  thank 
the  governor  for  the  appointment,  he  talked 
to  me  at  some  length,  and  I  learned  that 
he  was  more  largely  interested  in  the  Ohio 
Company  than  I  had  previously  known, 
and  that  one  reason  for  my  appointment 
was  my  familiarity  with  the  frontier  coun 
try,  where  I  might  have  to  serve.  Without 
further  troubling  myself  as  to  why  I,  a 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  117 

young  man  of  nineteen,  was  thus  chosen, 
I  set  earnestly  about  my  work.  I  found  it 
no  easy  task.  I  myself  had  much  to  learn, 
and,  by  Lawrence's  advice,  secured  Mr. 
Muse,  formerly  adjutant  of  a  regiment,  who 
had  served  with  my  brother  in  the  Spanish 
war  and  now  resided  near  us  in  Westmore 
land.  This  old  soldier  lent  me  books  on 
tactics,  and  taught  me  the  manual  of  the 
soldier,  which  was  to  prove  of  small  value 
on  the  frontier.  Van  Braam  was  also  put 
to  use,  as  I  wished  now  to  learn  the  broad 
sword. 

Meanwhile,  at  intervals,  I  rode  through 
the  counties  of  my  district,  and  did  my 
best  to  ascertain  how  many  men  could  be 
counted  on,  and  to  stiffen  the  lax  discipline 
of  the  county  militia. 

I  soon  discovered  that  the  governor, 
Robert  Dinwiddie,  was  more  intent  on  mak 
ing  money  than  on  governing  wisely. 

Appointments  to  office,  in  my  youth, 
were  very  often  obtained  through  family 
and  other  influence,  and  were,  like  mine, 
critically  considered  by  many.  Indeed,  in 
this  year,  not  long  before  Lawrence  died, 
Mr.  George  Fairfax  mentioned  to  me  that, 
being  at  Greenway  Court,  and  Mr.  Meade 


118  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

present,  that  gentleman  inquired  of  him 
how  it  chanced  that  a  man  so  young  as  I 
should  have  succeeded  to  obtain  what  older 
men  had  failed  to  get.  His  lordship  replied 
for  his  cousin  that  he  was  mistaken  as  to 
my  age,  for  all  the  Washingtons  were  born 
old,  and  he  supposed  that  I  was  near  about 
thirty.  Mr.  Meade  said  that  it  was  thought 
my  lord  knew  best  who  pulled  the  strings, 
but  to  this,  as  George  Fairfax  said,  laugh 
ing,  his  lordship  only  smoked  a  reply. 

This  Mr.  Meade  was  the  father  of  Rich 
ard,  who  served  well  as  one  of  my  aides  in 
the  great  war.  David  Meade,  the  second 
son,  was  of  those  who  believed  that  Colo 
nel  Byrd  should  have  been  made  com- 
mander-in-chief  by  the  Congress.  It  may 
be  that  he  was  right,  or  would  have  been  so 
had  Colonel  Byrd  been  more  decided  in  his 
opinions.  He  had  both  ability  and  military 
experience. 

Mr.  Meade  was  not  alone  in  this  opinion, 
and  was  said  to  have  himself  entertained 
the  belief  that,  although  I  was,  as  he  said, 
a  good  business  man  and  of  irreproachable 
morals,  Colonel  Byrd  of  Westover  was  my 
superiour  in  some  respects  and  in  none  my 
inferiour,  and  of  even  greater  experience  in 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  119 

war.  I  have  had  at  times  to  contradict  the 
statement  that  there  was  no  opposition  to 
my  appointment.  I  may  add  that  I  made 
no  effort  to  secure  it,  and  I  am  sure  that 
no  one  doubted  my  capacity  for  the  com 
mand  more  than  I  myself;  but  of  this  I 
have  already  said  enough. 

There  were  many  in  and  out  of  the  Con 
gress  who  preferred  others.  More  than  one 
of  the  Virginia  delegation  has  been  said  to 
have  been  cool  in  the  matter,  and  Mr.  Ed 
mund  Pendleton  was  clear  and  full  against 
my  appointment.  I  have  always  taught 
myself  never  to  resent  opposition  founded 
on  honest  beliefs  or  entertained  by  those 
of  unblemished  character.  Colonel  Madi 
son  once  said  to  me  that  time  is  a  great 
peacemaker,  but  I  have  rarely  needed  it. 
My  breast  never  harboured  a  suspicion  that 
the  opposition  then  made  was  due  to  per 
sonal  unfriendliness,  for  no  man  could  have 
had  more  reasonable  doubt  of  my  fitness 
than  I  myself.  Nor  have  I  ever  permitted 
the  remembrance  to  affect  my  actions,  and 
I  have  lived  to  have  unequivocal  proofs  of 
the  esteem  of  some  who  most  opposed  me. 


XVIII 

EKE  all  Virginians,  I  was  disturbed  dur 
ing  this  time  by  the  news  of  the  in 
solence  of  the  French  on  the  frontier,  and 
began  to  feel  that  my  brother's  money,  put 
into  the  Ohio  Company,  was  in  peril,  for 
we  were  like  to  be  soon  cooped  up  by  a  line 
of  forts,  and  our  trade  in  peltries  was  al 
ready  almost  at  an  end,  and  about  to  pass 
into  the  hands  of  the  French.  We  learned 
with  pleasure  that  the  royal  governors  were 
ordered  to  insist  on  the  retirement  of  these 
overbusy  French,  who  claimed  all  the  land 
up  to  the  Alleghanies,  but  I  did  not  dream 
that  I  was  soon  to  take  part  in  the  matter. 

About  that  time,  or  before,  there  had 
been  much  effort  to  secure  the  Six  Nations 
of  Indians  as  allies.  One  of  their  chiefs, 
Tanacharisson,  known  as  the  Half-King,  be 
cause  of  holding  a  subsidiary  rule  among 
the  Indians,  advised  a  fort  to  be  built  by  us 
near  to  the  Forks  of  the  Ohio,  on  the  east 
120 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  121 

bank,  and  Gist,  the  trader  set  out  on  this 
errand.  A  Captain  Trent  was  charged  to 
carry  our  King 's  message  to  the  French  out 
posts  ;  but  having  arrived  at  Logstown,  one 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  his  destina 
tion,  and  hearing  of  the  defeat  of  our  allies, 
the  Miamis,  by  the  French,  he  lost  heart 
and  came  back  to  report.  The  Ohio  Com 
pany  at  this  time  complained  to  the  gov 
ernor  of  the  attacks  on  their  traders,  and 
this  gentleman,  being  concerned  both  for 
his  own  pocket  and  for  his  Majesty's  prop 
erty,  resolved  to  send  some  one  of  more 
spirit  to  bear  the  King's  message  ordering 
the  French  to  retire  and  to  cease  to  molest 
our  fur  traders  about  the  Ohio. 

It  was  unfortunate  that  Governor  Robert 
Dinwiddie,  who  was  now  eager  to  defend 
his  interests  in  the  Ohio  Company,  had  lost 
the  prudent  counsel  of  its  late  head,  my 
brother  Lawrence.  He  would  have  made 
a  better  envoy  than  I,  for  at  the  age  of 
twenty-one  a  man  is  too  young  to  influence 
the  Indians,  on  account  of  a  certain  rever 
ence  they  have  for  age  in  council.  I  was 
ignorant  of  what  was  intended  when  I  re 
ceived  orders  to  repair  to  Williamsburg. 
To  my  surprise,  and  I  may  say  to  my  plea- 


122  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

sure,  I  learned  that  I  was  to  go  to  Logs- 
town.  I  was  there  to  meet  our  allies,  the 
Indians,  and  secure  from  them  an  escort 
and  guides,  and  so  push  on  and  find  the 
French  commander.  I  was  to  deliver  to 
him  my  summons,  and  wait  an  answer  dur 
ing  one  week,  and  then  to  return.  I  was 
also  to  keep  my  eyes  open  as  to  all  matters 
of  military  concern. 

Whatever  distrust  I  had  in  regard  to  my 
powers  as  an  envoy,  I  said  nothing,  for  in 
case  of  an  order  a  soldier  has  no  alternative 
but  to  obey.  Had  I  been  in  the  governor's 
place  I  should  have  sent  an  older  man. 

I  received  my  credentials  at  Williams- 
burg,  and  rode  away  the  day  after,  October 
31,  1753,  intending  no  delay. 

Van  Braam  was  assigned  to  me  as  my 
French  interpreter,  and  I  gathered  my  out 
fit  of  provisions,  blankets,  and  guns  at  Alex 
andria,  and  horses,  tents,  and  other  needed 
matters  at  Winchester,  and  was  joined  near 
Wills  Creek— where  now  is  the  settlement 
called  Cumberland— by  Mr.  Gist  and  an  In 
dian  interpreter,  one  Davidson. 

The  same  day,  November  13,  to  my  plea 
sure,  Lord  Fairfax  rode  into  camp  and 
spent  the  night.  It  was  raining  and  at  times 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  123 

snowing,  but  Gist  soon  set  up  a  lean-to,  and 
with  our  feet  to  the  fire  we  talked  late  into 
the  night,  his  lordship  smoking,  as  was  his 
habit. 

I  have  many  times  desired  to  be  able  to 
make  drawings  of  the  greater  trees,  but, 
although  I  could  plot  a  survey  well,  beyond 
this  I  could  never  go.  I  speak  of  this  be 
cause  of  my  remembrance  of  that  night,  and 
how  mighty  the  trees  seemed  by  the  camp- 
fire  light  around  the  clearing.  It  was  his 
lordship  who  called  my  attention  to  the 
trees.  He  had  a  way,  most  strange  to  me, 
of  suddenly  dropping  the  matter  in  hand 
before  it  was  fully  considered.  He  would 
be  silent  a  space  and  speak  no  more,  or  turn 
presently  to  another  matter  most  remote. 
All  of  this  I  learned  to  accept  without  re 
monstrance,  out  of  respect  for  this  great 
gentleman,  as  was  fitting  in  one  of  my 
years.  I  never  got  accustomed  to  his  ways, 
for  it  has  been  always  my  desire  to  deal 
with  the  subject  in  hand  fully  and  to  an 
end.  Nor  did  I  see  this  wilderness  as  his 
lordship  saw  it;  for,  while  I  made  note  of 
trees  for  what  logs  they  would  afford,  and 
as  to  the  soil  and  the  lay  of  the  land,  his 
lordship  I  have  seen  stand  for  ten  minutes 


124  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

looking  at  a  great  tree  as  though  he  found 
much  to  consider  of  it.  In  like  manner  I 
have  seen  him  stop  when  the  hounds  were 
in  full  cry,  a  thing  most  astonishing,  and 
sit  still  in  the  saddle,  looking  down  at  a 
brook  or  up  at  the  sunrise. 

As  we  lay  by  the  fire  he  remained  without 
speaking  for  a  long  while,  until  the  men, 
having  found  some  old  and  dried  birch  logs, 
cast  them  on  the  fire,  and  a  great  roaring 
red  flame  lighted  the  woods  and  was  blown 
about  by  the  cold  wind.  His  lordship  said, 
1  i  See,  George,  how  the  shadows  of  the  trees 
are  dancing  " — a  thing  very  wild,  that  I 
never  should  have  much  noticed  had  not 
he  called  on  me  to  observe  it.  After  this 
he  was  silent  until  suddenly  he  began  to  ask 
questions  as  to  my  men  and  my  route,  and 
what  I  meant  to  do  and  say  in  the  French 
camps.  At  last  he  said,  "  You  are  going 
to  stir  up  a  nest  of  hornets,"  and,  finally, 
that  the  former  messenger,  Trent,  was  a 
coward. 

When  he  had  again  been  silent  a  long 
while,  he  said  that  this  time,  at  least,  he  was 
not  responsible  for  my  appointment,  and 
Dinwiddie  was  a  fool  to  send  a  boy  on  a 
man's  errand.  This  was  my  own  opinion, 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  125 

but  I  made  no  reply.  At  last  he  filled  his 
pipe  again,  and  called  for  a  coal,  and  said, 
"But  by  George,  George,  you  never  were 
a  boy,  not  since  I  knew  you."  I  ventured 
to  say  that  but  for  his  former  influence  this 
office  would  not  have  come  to  me.  To  this 
he  made  no  answer,  but  bid  me  distrust 
every  Indian,  especially  the  Half-King,  who 
was  not  treacherous  but  uncertain,  and  not 
less  every  Frenchman,  and  added  that  I  was 
so  young  that  they  would  think  that  I  could 
be  easily  fooled.  I  said  that  might  be  an 
advantage,  for  I  meant  to  see  all  there  was 
to  see,  and  had  told  Van  Braam  to  keep  his 
ears  open. 

His  lordship  laughed,  and  said  I  might 
thank  Heaven  there  were  no  women  in  the 
business,  and  with  this,  bidding  me  have 
the  fire  made  up  for  the  night,  we  lay  down 
to  sleep  in  the  lean-to. 

I  find  it  interesting  now  in  my  old  age  to 
discover  myself  thus  able  to  recall,  little  by 
little,  what  his  lordship  said.  I  was  pleased 
at  the  notice  he  took  of  me,  but  a  lad,  and 
lay  long  awake  under  the  lean-to,  thinking 
upon  such  counsels  as  his  lordship  had  been 
pleased  to  give. 


XIX 

AS  I  turn  over  the  diary  in  which  I  re- 
*L\-  corded  my  journey  through  this  wil 
derness,  I  find  myself  remembering  many 
little  incidents  which  I  never  set  down. 

It  rained  or  snowed  almost  daily.  The 
rivers  were  swollen,  so  that  we  had  to  swim 
our  horses,  an  art  which  soldiers  should  be 
taught.  Although  Van  Braam  much  en 
livened  the  way  by  his  songs  and  very 
doubtful  tales  of  his  wars,  I  was  very  tired 
and  my  new  buckskin  coat  in  tatters  when 
we  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  Turtle  Creek  on 
the  Monongahela.  There  we  found  Frazier, 
a  trader  whom  the  French  had  driven  out 
of  the  Indian  town  of  Venango.  With  two 
canoes  he  lent  me  I  sent  our  baggage  down 
the  Monongahela  to  the  fork,  where,  with 
the  Alleghany  River,  it  joins  the  Ohio,  and 
set  out  on  a  bad  trail  to  meet  them. 

We  got  to  the  Forks  of  the  Ohio  before 
the  canoes.  There,  I  settled  in  my  mind, 

126 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  127 

was  the  place  for  a  fort,  nor  could  I  better 
that  judgment  to-day.  It  came  afterwards 
to  be  chosen  by  the  French  engineer  Mer- 
cier  to  be  Fort  Duquesne.  On  the  rise  of 
ground  we  made  camp,  and  paid  a  visit  to 
Shingiss  of  the  Delawares,  who  pretended 
to  favour  us,  but  proved  later  a  savage  foe. 

Gist  insisted  that  he  could  tell  from  their 
faces  how  the  Indians  felt  towards  us,  but 
to  me  they  told  nothing,  and  are  in  this  re 
spect  unlike  the  faces  of  white  men. 

We  got  to  Logstown,  fifteen  miles  down 
the  Ohio,  on  November  24.  Here  I  met  the 
Indian  known  as  the  Half-King.  He  was 
angry  at  the  French  claims,  and  I  did  not 
too  strongly  put  forward  those  of  the  King, 
which  were  not  much  better  founded;  but 
that  was  for  my  superiours  to  decide.  I 
found  him  hard  to  satisfy,  but  if  I  spoke  of 
the  French  he  was  at  once  angered,  and 
eager  to  help.  I  watched  with  interest  as 
he  drew  with  charcoal  on  birch  bark  the 
plan  of  their  forts  at  French  Creek  and  on 
Lake  Erie,  while  Davidson  interpreted  his 
words. 

The  nearest  way  was  impassable  because 
of  marshy  savannas,  and  I  found  I  must 
needs  travel  north  so  as  to  reach  the  lake, 


128.  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

by  passing  through  Venango.  This,  the 
Half-King  informed  me,  was  five  sleeps  dis 
tant,  and  expressed  it  by  five  times  drawing 
up  his  hands,  as  a  man  does  when  pulling 
up  his  blankets  before  sleeping. 

It  was  fortunately  arranged  that  the 
Half-King,  White  Thunder,  and  two  more 
chiefs  should  go  with  me.  It  was  but  sev 
enty  miles  to  Venango,  but  the  weather 
could  not  have  been  worse,  and  so  it  was 
December  4  before  we  rode  into  the  clearing 
the  French  had  made  around  the  big  log 
house  out  of  which  they  had  driven  the 
trader  John  Frazier. 

I  recall  what  is  not  set  down  in  my  diary, 
the  anger  and  shame  with  which  I  saw  the 
flag  of  France  flying  over  the  big  cabin. 
As  I  came  out  of  the  woods,  a  lean,  dark- 
faced  man  came  forward  with  three  French 
officers,  and  I  learned  that  he  was  Captain 
Joncaire,  the  worst  enemy  we  had,  for  he 
was  a  half-breed  and  had  the  tongues  of 
the  Indians.  He  said  he  had  command  on 
the  Ohio,  but  we  must  push  on  to  see  his 
general.  He  was  very  merry,  and  laughed 
every  minute  or  two,  but  was  on  his  guard 
like  the  others. 

Three  days  passed  before  I  could  get 
away,  with  La  Force,  the  guide  they  gave 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  129 

me,  and  three  soldiers  for  escort.  Mean 
while  Joncaire  entertained  us  at  a  supper. 
I  never  had  better  cause  to  be  thankful  for 
my  sobriety,  which  was  a  rare  virtue  at  that 
day,  and  even  later,  among  all  classes.  The 
big  log  cabin  had  a  great  table  set  out  with 
game  and  French  kickshaws,  such  as  were 
strange  to  me.  None  of  the  French  spoke 
English  nor  understood  it,  and  of  my 
people  Van  Braam  alone  had  any  French. 
They  all  dosed  themselves  freely  with 
wine  and  brandy,  and  pretty  soon  the 
French  felt  it  and  began  to  give  their 
tongues  license  and  to  brag  and  talk  loosely. 
I  was  never  more  amused  in  all  my  life,  for 
as  Joncaire  boasted  of  what  they  meant  to 
do,  Van  Braam,  who  was  an  old  soldier  with 
a  head  used  to  potations,  chattered  what 
seemed  to  be  a  kind  of  French,  which  set 
the  drunken  fools  a-laughing.  Amid  all  the 
noise,  and  the  smoke  which  nearly  choked 
me,  Van  Braam  now  and  then  spoke  to 
me,  telling  me  what  they  said,  and  of  their 
mind  to  seize  and  hold  the  country.  Next 
day  he  was  still  more  full  as  to  their 
talk,  and  did  me  a  service,  which,  in  spite 
of  the  hurt  he  innocently  did  me  later,  I 
never  forgot. 

I  was  glad  to  get  away  at  last,  for  when 


130  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

Joncaire  found  the  Half-King,  who  was  hid 
away  in  my  camp,  which  I  had  made  in  the 
woods  at  a  distance,  he  got  the  poor  savage 
drunk  with  rum  and  loaded  him  with  gifts. 
Four  days  later,  and  very  tired,  I  was  at 
French  Creek,  where  was  a  great  fort,  fif 
teen  miles  from  Lake  Erie.  Much  against 
my  will,  Joncaire  had  sent  with  me  La 
Force,  as  great  a  lover  of  mischief  as  could 
be  found.  This  fellow  was  the  leanest  man 
I  ever  saw,  and  saddle-coloured.  When  he 
spoke  to  me  he  stared  constantly,  which  is 
as  unpleasant  as  to  avoid  entirely  to  meet 
a  man's  gaze.  He  made  no  end  of  trouble, 
and  had  later  his  reward,  and  perhaps  more 
punishment  than  he  deserved. 

I  met  at  this  station  many  educated 
French  officers,  such  as  I  was  to  make  wel 
come  at  another  time.  I  could  not  avoid 
to  be  pleased  with  the  commandant,  by 
name  Legardeur  de  St.  Pierre,  a  chevalier 
of  St.  Louis.  He  was  an  old  soldier,  very 
tall  and  straight,  and  with  much  grey  hair, 
and  had  lost  an  eye  in  battle.  This  gentle 
man  was  most  courteous,  and  had  brisk, 
pleasing  ways,  very  frank  and  outspoken. 
He  desired  to  be  remembered  to  Lord  Fair 
fax,  whom  he  had  known  in  Paris  long  ago. 


THE  YOUTH  OF   WASHINGTON  131 

The  chevalier,  by  good  fortune,  spoke 
English  enough  to  make  his  company  very 
agreeable,  and  I  became  sure,  as  I  spent 
some  days  in  his  society,  that  he  made  no 
attempt  to  deceive  me;  for  nothing  could 
have  been  more  plain  than  that  he  meant 
to  hold  the  country  for  his  king. 

He  was  pleased  to  relate  his  campaigns 
in  Europe,  and,  although  he  was  apt,  like 
old  soldiers,  to  be  lengthy  as  to  these,  I 
found  him  to  be  instructive. 

He  talked  lightly  of  women,  but  so  did 
his  officers,  and  in  a  manner  we  in  Virginia 
should  have  considered  to  be  unmannerly 
or  worse.  Also  he  told  me  that  the  French 
encouraged  their  soldiers  to  take  wives 
among  the  young  squaws,  a  thing  our  peo 
ple  never  inclined  to  do.  He  seemed  to 
have  known  many  English  gentlemen  who 
had  been  in  Paris,  and  even  why  Lord  Fair 
fax  had  left  England,  all  of  which  story  I 
could  have  heard  from  him  if  I  had  thought 
proper  so  to  do,  which  I  did  not.  He  did 
say,  and  was  very  merry  about  it,  that  if  a 
woman  drove  his  lordship  to  America,  an 
other  might  drive  him  back,  for,  after  all, 
we  were  only  shuttlecocks,  and  were  knocked 
to  and  fro  by  the  women— and  I  might  say 


132  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

so  to  his  lordship  with  the  chevalier's  com 
pliments. 

I  remember  that  when,  after  this  journey, 
I  had  returned  home,  my  sister  Betty  was 
agreeably  interested  to  hear  what  the  cheva 
lier  had  said  of  the  old  lord,  who  was  the 
only  person  who  could  keep  Betty  quiet  for 
five  minutes.  I  had  to  answer  that  I  had 
not  seen  fit  to  inquire  further.  Upon  this 
she  declared  that  some  day  she  should  ask 
his  lordship  all  about  it.  When  I  laughed 
and  made  no  other  reply,  she  declared  that 
I  was  as  silent  as  my  lord,  and  that  I  had 
lost  a  fine  opportunity.  I  contented  myself 
with  the  chevalier's  compliments  to  Lord 
Fairfax,  who  said  if  that  was  all  the  old 
fellow  had  said  he  must  have  changed,  for 
he  was  a  gossiping  old  reprobate  and  fit  to 
corrupt  me.  But  for  my  part  I  liked  him 
and  found  him  a  gallant  gentleman,  and 
only  of  a  mind  to  serve  his  king,  as  I  was 
to  serve  mine. 

There  was  no  unreasonable  delay,  for  the 
chevalier  made  clear  to  me  that  nothing 
could  be  done  until  after  they  had  held  a 
council.  I  arrived  on  the  12th,  and  on  the 
14th  they  were  able  to  give  me  a  sealed  reply 
to  the  governor's  summons.  Meanwhile  I 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  133 

had  been  left  free  to  inspect  the  fort  and 
count  the  canoes  made  ready  for  use  in  the 
spring.  I  must  admit  that  they  seemed  care 
less  as  to  what  I  saw.  There  were  many  In 
dians  and  French  and  half-breeds  coming 
and  going.  The  fort  was  square,  of  logs, 
with  palisadoes,  a  forge,  and  a  chapel,  all 
very  neat  and  clean,  and  much  ceremony 
when  we  came  in  and  went  out. 


XX 

I  WAS  now  very  eager  to  go,  but  notwith 
standing  the  polite  ways  of  the  com 
mandant,  I  found  needless  delays  as  to 
guides  and  supplies.  This  was  to  gain  time 
to  win  the  Half-King,  who  was  of  our  side 
to-day,  and  the  next  had  what  the  Indians 
call  "two  hearts. "  I  cannot  say  that  ever 
in  my  life  I  suffered  as  much  anxiety  as  I 
did  in  this  affair.  The  Half -King,  being 
half  drunk,  assured  me  the  chevalier  was 
keeping  him.  That  officer  swore  that  he 
was  ignorant  why  we  did  not  go,  but  this 
I  determined  not  to  do  without  Tanacha- 
risson.  One  day  a  gun  was  promised  the 
savage,  another  day  all  my  sachems  were 
dead  drunk.  I  was  in  despair,  for  to  lose 
the  Half -King  to  the  wiles  of  the  French 
would  be  a  serious  matter,  and  I  was  re 
solved  not  to  fail.  But  here  was  I,  a  lad  of 
twenty-one,  playing  a  game  with  old,  astute 
men  for  the  prize  of  a  drunken  Indian ! 

134 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  135 

Finally  Gist  succeeded  in  keeping  him 
sober  a  day,  and  yet,  as  he  said,  reasonably 
intoxicated  with  promises  of  great  gifts; 
and  so  at  last,  on  December  16,  we  gladly 
bade  farewell  and  set  out  in  our  birch 
canoes  to  go  down  French  Creek. 

A  cannon  was  fired,  and  the  officers  as 
sembled  on  shore  saluted  us  politely  as  we 
left  the  fort.  The  commandant  sent  one 
canoe  loaded  with  strong  liquors  to  be  used 
on  the  way,  and  at  Venango  to  overcome  the 
wits  of  Tanacharisson. 

Each  of  us,  Gist  and  Van  Braam  and 
Davidson,  was  seated  very  comfortably  in 
the  middle  of  a  canoe  of  birch  bark ;  at  the 
bow  and  stern  were  Indians  or  half-breeds, 
and,  as  the  water  was  very  rapid  most  of  the 
way,  they  used  poles  of  ash  to  hold  and 
guide  the  canoes.  On  the  18th  December 
we  were  no  longer  comfortable.  The  ice 
was  thick,  and  we  had  all  of  us  to  wade  and, 
in  places,  to  portage.  On  the  22d  we  came 
to  a  strong  rapid.  Gist  advised  to  land  and 
portage  the  provisions.  This  we  did,  and, 
being  arrived  before  the  French  canoes, 
stood  to  watch  them  descend,  a  fine  sight. 
About  half-way  the  man  on  the  bow  of  one 
canoe— that  with  the  liquors— caught  his 


136  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

pole  between  two  rocks.  He  should  have 
let  it  go ;  but  as  he  did  not,  the  boat  slued 
square  to  the  stream  and,  filling,  turned 
over,  so  that  all  the  brandy  was  lost,  to  my 
satisfaction.  The  men  got  out,  with  no 
great  ease,  swearing  oaths,  both  French  and 
Indian. 

It  rained  and  froze,  and  when,  at  fall  of 
night,  we  came  to  Venango  on  December 
22,  we  were  cased  in  ice  like  men  in  armour. 
I  was  never  more  glad  of  a  fire. 

Here  Captain  Chabert  de  Joncaire  set  to 
work  again  to  convince  my  Half-King  with 
the  bottle.  But  by  good  luck  the  sachem 
was  much  disordered  in  his  stomach  because 
of  the  rum  he  had  of  St.  Pierre,  and  when 
Gist  persuaded  him  the  French  had  be 
witched  the  liquor,  he  would  none  of  it. 
Here  we  found  our  horses,  but  very  lean, 
and,  after  a  rest,  set  out  by  land  from  Ve 
nango,  over  a  bad  trail,  this  being  about 
December  25. 

It  was  a  horrible  journey,  the  men  get 
ting  frozen  feet  and  the  packhorses  failing, 
until,  in  despair  at  the  delay,  on  the  third 
day,  against  Gist's  advice,  I  left  Van 
Braam  to  follow  me  with  the  horses  and 
men,  and  determined  to  strike  through  the 


THE  YOUTH  OF   WASHINGTON  137 

woods  by  compass  to  the  Forks  of  the  Ohio, 
and  thus  be  enabled  the  sooner  to  report  to 
the  governor. 

For  this  venture  Gist  and  I  put  on  match- 
coats,  Indian  dress,  thick  socks,  and  mocca 
sins.  We  carried  packs,  with  my  papers 
tied  up  in  tanned  skin,  and  as  much  provi 
sion  as  we  could  manage.  With  our  guns, 
and  thus  cumbered,  we  left  the  camp  and 
struck  out  through  the  woods,  where  to 
move  by  compass  is  no  easy  matter,  be 
cause  to  go  straight  is  not  possible  where 
every  tree  and  bit  of  swamp  must  turn  a 
man  to  this  side  or  that.  But  by  taking 
note  of  some  great  pine  in  front  of  us,  and, 
on  reaching  it,  of  another,  we  made  good 
progress,  and  for  part  of  the  way  we  had 
an  Indian  trail. 

On  the  third  day,  the  snow  being  deep, 
we  struck  up  the  southeast  fork  of  Beaver 
Creek.  Here  were  a  few  Indians  camped, 
who  seemed  to  expect  us,  but  how  they 
could  have  done  this  I  never  knew;  but 
there  is  much  about  Indian  ways  of  commu 
nication  of  which  I  must  confess  myself 
ignorant. 

They  were  too  curious  to  please  Gist ;  but 
as  we  were  now  in  midwinter,  and  to  pass 


138  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

through  a  wilderness  with  no  trails,  we  en 
gaged,  for  we  could  do  no  better,  an  Indian 
as  guide  and  to  carry  my  pack.  Gist  mis 
trusted  him,  and  I  soon  shared  his  opinion. 

We  left  at  break  of  day,  and  after  ten 
miles  were  in  doubt  as  to  our  route,  I  with 
one  foot  chafed  and  the  most  tired  I  ever 
was  in  my  life,  on  account  of  plunging 
through  drifts,  where,  on  his  snow-shoes, 
the  Indian  was  at  ease.  At  this  time  he 
would  have  carried  my  gun,  but  I  refused. 
When  we  said  we  would  camp  and  rest,  he 
declared  the  Ottawas  would  see  our  fire- 
smoke  and  surprise  us.  Upon  this  we  kept 
on,  as  he  said,  toward  his  cabin.  Once  he 
told  Gist  he  heard  whoops,  and  then  a  gun, 
and  kept  turning  northward,  to  our  discon 
tent. 

Notwithstanding  my  fatigue,  I  found  the 
loneliness  and  silence  of  these  woods  to  my 
taste,  being  open  and  free  of  undergrowth. 
I  was  startled  at  times  by  the  sharp  crack, 
like  a  pistol-shot,  of  huge  limbs  breaking, 
but  there  was  no  other  sound. 


XXI 

AT  last  I  declared  that  I  must  camp  at 
J_JL  the  first  brook  we  met,  and  so  kept  on, 
stumbling,  and  ready  to  fall  down  with 
fatigue.  At  this  time,  being  come  some  two 
miles  farther  into  warm  sunlight  and  an 
open  glade,  all  the  brighter  for  the  white 
ness  of  the  snow,  I  came  to  a  stand  and 
said,  "Here  is  our  stream;  let  us  camp." 
At  this  time  Gist  and  I  were  near  together, 
and  the  Indian  about  twenty  paces  away. 
Of  a  sudden  he  turned  and  fired  at  us.  I 
cried  out  to  Gist  if  he  was  shot.  He  said 
no,  and  we  ran  in  on  the  fellow  before  he 
could  load,  and  seized  him  and  took  his 
gun.  Gist  was  for  killing  him  at  once,  but 
this  I  would  not  allow,  and  we  contented 
ourselves  with  taking  his  gun,  and  made 
him  walk  on  in  front.  Gist,  who  was  much 
vexed,  said  if  we  did  not  shoot  him,  which 
was  the  better  way,  we  must  contrive  to 
fool  him.  At  last  it  was  agreed  to  pretend 


140  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

we  believed  his  excuses  as  to  the  shooting 
being  an  accident,  and  to  let  him  go  to  his 
cabin.  He  said  he  knew  we  would  never 
trust  him  further,  and  was  pleased  to  be 
told  he  might  go  home  and  get  some  jerked 
venison  ready,  and  that  we  would  camp 
that  night  and  follow  his  tracks  in  the  snow 
at  morning.  We  returned  his  gun,  but  took 
all  his  powder.  We  gave  him  a  cake  of 
bread,  and  Gist  followed  him  until  he  had 
gone  a  mile.  After  my  companion  came 
back  to  me,  we  moved  on  rapidly  for  an 
hour  and  made  a  big  fire,  and,  as  it  was 
night,  took,  by  the  light  of  the  blaze,  a 
course  by  compass,  and  set  out,  leaving,  to 
my  regret,  the  great  warm  flame  behind  us. 

It  was  now  clear  and  very  cold.  All  night 
long  we  pushed  on,  now  and  then  making  a 
light  with  flint  and  steel  to  see  the  compass, 
and  trying  to  observe  the  stars.  We  were 
well  assured  that  we  should  be  pursued, 
and  on  this  account  never  halted  the  next 
day,  and  hardly  spoke  a  word  until,  at 
evening,  we  came  upon  the  Alleghany 
River. 

There  we  made  camp,  and  were  up  at 
break  of  day. 

The  ice  lay  out  some  sixty  feet  from  the 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  141 

two  shores,  and  between  were  masses  of 
ice  afloat  and  a  great  flow  of  water.  Hav 
ing  only  one  hatchet,  and  that  not  very 
good,  we  were  all  day  contriving  to  build 
a  raft.  At  sundown  we  pushed  it  over  the 
shore  ice  and  got  afloat.  Midway  we  got 
caught  in  the  jam  of  ice-cakes,  and  as  I 
pushed  with  my  setting-pole,  the  swift  cur 
rent  and  a  block  of  ice  caught  it,  and  I  was 
cast  into  the  deep  water.  I  caught  on  to 
a  log  of  the  raft,  and  Gist  giving  me  a  hand, 
I  crawled  on  to  the  raft.  I  had  lost  my 
pole,  and  to  go  to  either  shore  was  not  pos 
sible,  and  when  we  drifted  on  to  an  island 
I  was  thankful  enough,  and  the  raft  swept 
away  in  the  flood. 

Very  soon  Gist  had  a  great  fire  burning, 
and  by  this  I  dried  myself;  but  to  keep 
warm  was  impossible,  for  the  cold  was  the 
greatest  I  have  ever  known,  and  so  intense 
was  it  that  Gist  would  not  allow  me  to  sleep, 
but  made  me  walk  about,  although  I  was 
ready  to  drop,  saying  if  we  slept  and  the 
fire  should  die,  so  should  we.  By  good  for 
tune  there  was  a  large  jam  of  drifted  wood 
on  the  upper  end  of  the  island,  and  thus 
we  had  fuel  sufficient. 

What  with  fatigue  and  the  cold  increas- 


142  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

ing  as  the  night  went  on,  even  Gist,  who 
was  of  great  endurance  and  hopeful,  was 
concerned  lest  we  should  have  been  fol 
lowed,  and,  as  the  island  afforded  small 
shelter,  be  shot  from  the  shore.  This  trou 
bled  me  less  than  to  keep  warm,  for  there 
was  not  snow  enough  to  build  a  hut,  than 
which  there  is  no  better  shelter. 

About  ten  o'clock  that  night  we  found 
that  the  river  was  rising,  so  that  it  would 
take  little  more  to  flood  us.  What  I  found 
worst  of  all  was  the  delay.  I  said  things 
could  hardly  be  worse,  but  that  the  cold 
was  such  as  would  freeze  the  river  by  day 
light.  He  said  that  was  true,  and  we  went 
back  to  the  fire  and  shared  a  part  of  a  flask 
of  brandy  St.  Pierre  gave  me.  Fortunately 
we  had  food  enough.  Gist  kept  me  and 
himself  awake  with  amazing  stories  of  In 
dians  and  French,  and  of  great  bears.  But, 
contrive  as  we  could,  Gist  had  his  toes  froze, 
and  had  to  have  them  rubbed  with  snow  to 
save  them.  I  was  well  pleased  at  last  to  see 
red  in  the  sky  to  eastward,  and  when  we 
found  the  ice-cakes  froze  hard  together  we 
made  haste  to  cross  to  the  shore.  There, 
being  out  of  shot  and  the  sun  warmer  every 
minute,  we  built  another  fire  and  ate  break- 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  143 

fast,  and  took,  each  in  turn,  an  hour's 
sleep. 

As  we  walked  away,  Gist  said  there  was 
small  fear  of  Indians  either  in  the  darkness 
or  in  great  cold,  for  they  liked  neither,  and 
he  thought  the  cold  had  perhaps  saved  us 
from  pursuit. 

This  was  the  case  at  Valley  Forge  in 
'78,  when,  although  my  soldiers  suffered 
greatly,  the  snows  and  the  cold  were  such 
as  to  keep  Sir  William  Howe  in  his  lines. 

From  the  top  of  a  hill,  as  I  looked  back 
on  the  river,  Gist  said:  "You  will  never 
again,  sir,  be  in  a  worse  business  than  that, 
nor  ever  see  the  like  again."  But  this  I 
did,  when,  on  the  night  before  Christmas, 
in  1776,  I  crossed  the  Delaware  in  a  boat 
with  General  Knox,  amid  as  great  peril  of 
ice,  on  our  way  to  beat  up  the  Hessian  quar 
ters  at  Trenton. 

While  we  were  in  danger,  Gist  had  been 
silent ;  but  now  that  we  were  released  from 
anxiety  and  on  a  clear  trail,  he  talked  all 
the  time,  whether  I  made  answer  or  not. 
I  remember  little  of  what  he  said,  being 
engaged  in  thinking  how  soon  I  should  be 
able  to  reach  Williamsburg.  I  recall,  how 
ever,  his  surprising  me  with  a  question  as 


144  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

to  whether  I  had  ever  before  had  a  man 
shoot  at  me.  I  said  never,  and  having  my 
mind  thus  turned  to  the  matter,  felt  it  to 
be  strange  that  so  great  an  escape  and  such 
nearness  to  death  had  not  more  impressed 
me.  But,  in  fact,  I  had  no  time  to  think 
before  we  caught  the  man,  and  after  that 
the  great  misery  of  the  cold  so  distressed 
me  that  how  to  keep  warm  employed  my 
mind. 


XXII 

WE  were  now  on  a  good  trail,  and  by 
nightfall  came  to  the  cabin  of  Fra- 
zier,  a  trader  in  furs ;  and  this  was  where 
the  Turtle  Creek  falls  into  the  Mononga- 
hela,  Here  I  wrote  up  my  diary. 

As  there  was  hope  of  packhorses  coming 
hither  which  might  be  used  on  our  return, 
I  waited,  pleased  to  be  fed  and  warmed, 
but  hearing  bad  news  of  massacres  by  the 
Ottawas.  Near  by  I  visited  the  Queen  Ali- 
quippa,  and  made  her  presents  of  a  match- 
coat  and  a  bottle  of  rum  I  had  of  the  trader, 
asking,  too,  her  advice  as  to  the  Indians,  all 
of  which  pleased  her  mightily. 

I  was  surprised  to  find  a  woman  with  rule 
over  Indians,  but  she  was  said  to  be  wise 
in  council.  I  n£ver  heard  of  a  King  Ali- 
quippa.  The  queen  was  old  and  fat  and 
as  wrinkled  as  a  frosted  persimmon.  She 
smoked  a  pipe  and  had  a  tomahawk  in 
her  belt,  and  I  did  not  think  she  would 

10  145 


146  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

be  a  comfortable  partner  in  the  marriage 
state. 

At  last,  as  we  failed  at  this  place  to  get 
horses  after  a  three  days'  rest,  we  left  on 
foot,  January  1,  reaching  Gist's  home  on 
the  Monongahela,  a  sixteen-mile  tramp. 
There  I  left  Gist,  and,  buying  a  horse, 
pushed  on,  passing  packhorses  carrying 
stores  for  the  new  fort  begun  at  the  Forks. 

I  had  no  more  appetite  for  adventure, 
and  was  glad  to  reach  Williamsburg  on 
January  16,  1754,  where  I  delivered  my 
sealed  reply,  and  conveyed  to  the  governor 
my  views,  and  remembrance  of  what  I  had 
seen  and  heard,  with  maps  I  had  made  and 
drawings  of  the  forts. 

Looking  back  from  the  hilltop,  as  Gen 
eral  Hamilton  once  said  to  me,  must  often 
surprise  a  man  with  knowledge  of  mistakes 
made  by  the  way ;  but  considering  this  jour 
ney  from  the  summit  of  years,  I  seem  to 
have  done  as  well  as  so  young  a  man  might. 

Van  Braam,  who  came  in  later,  told  me 
that  the  elder  French  officers  were  rather 
amused  that  a  boy  should  be  sent  on  an 
errand  which  might  bring  about  a  war.  I 
think  it  was  their  imprudent  indifference 
which  left  me  free  to  observe  all  I  wished 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  147 

to  learn  which  might  bear  upon  military 
action  in  the  future.  It  appeared  to  me  that 
they  felt  so  secure  of  their  own  power  as  to 
be  altogether  careless. 

I  proposed  to  myself  on  starting  to  be 
as  full  of  wiles  as  the  Indians,  and  to  be 
very  careful  as  to  what  I  said  to  them  and 
to  the  French.  I  perceive  to-day  that  my 
disposition  to  look  down  on  the  Indians  was 
a  mistake,  and  that  I  had  been  wiser  to  have 
treated  the  Half-King  more  as  an  equal. 
My  disposition  to  be  what  is  called  diplo 
matic  with  the  French  in  command  was 
needless,  for  the  commander  was  very 
frank.  I  have  learned,  as  years  went  by, 
that  in  treating  with  men  or  nations  the 
simplest  way  is  the  best. 

The  answer  made  to  the  governor  was 
plain  enough.  The  Frenchmen  were  there 
to  obey  orders,  and  meant  to  hold  the  lands. 
They  would,  of  course,  send  our  summons 
to  Marquis  Duquesne.  The  chevalier  said 
in  his  despatch  polite  words  of  me,  which 
I  still  recall  with  satisfaction,  for  I  have 
never  been  insensible  to  the  approbation  of 
men,  and  the  words  of  the  courteous  French 
officer  were  not  lost  upon  me. 

The  governor  thought,  and  so  did  his 


148  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

council,  that  the  answer  was  evasive  and 
was  meant  to  gain  time.  It  seemed  to  me 
remarkably  straightforward,  and  I  was  sure 
that  in  the  spring  they  would  descend  the 
Ohio  and  take  possession.  I  had  to  prepare 
my  report  hastily  in  two  days,  which  was 
printed  and  distributed  through  the  colo 
nies.  It  appears  to  me,  as  I  read  it  over, 
to  have  been  well  done  for  so  young  a  man, 
with  no  time  allowed  to  correct  and  im 
prove  the  language.  I  am  more  surprised, 
as  I  now  read  it,  that  I  should  have  had  the 
good  sense  to  see,  as  the  French  engineers 
saw  later,  that  where  the  Monongahela  and 
Alleghany  join  was  the  best  place  for  a  fort, 
and  a  better  than  where  the  Ohio  Company 
intended. 

It  seems  strange  to  me,  as  I  look  back  on 
this  time,  to  see  what  share  I,  but  a  young 
man,  had  in  the  historical  events  of  the  day. 
My  report  was  not  only  read  throughout 
the  colonies,  but  in  England  and  even  in 
France,  so  that  at  this  time,  and  again  soon 
after,  my  name  became  known  both  among 
ourselves  and  on  the  other  side  of  the  ocean, 
although  the  matters  in  which  I  was  en 
gaged  were  in  themselves,  to  appearance,  of 
little  moment.  To  be  so  widely  spoken  of 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  149 

was  not  then  unpleasant,  and  the  less  so 
because  it  was  a  source  of  gratification  to 
my  friends. 

I  had  been  through  the  winter  wilderness 
and  delivered  the  hostile  message  of  the 
King's  governor.  It  was  seemingly  no  great 
matter.  But  as  I  reflect,  I  perceive  that 
whatever  I  did  then  or  later  gave  me  such 
importance  in  the  eyes  of  men  as  led  on  to 
my  being  considered  for  the  greater  tasks 
of  life.  Mr.  J  -  — ,  who  much  disliked  Gen 
eral  H—  — ,  once  wrote  of  him  that  he  was 
like  a  pawn  in  the  game  of  chess,  and  was 
pushed  on  by  mere  luck,  until  he  suddenly 
found  himself  on  the  far  line  of  the  board 
with  the  powers  of  royalty.  This  was  said 
with  bitterness  not  long  ago,  when  I  in 
sisted  he  should  command  under  me,  at  the 
time  we  were  threatened  with  a  French  war. 
I  am  not,  however,  of  the  opinion  that  good 
fortune  alone  presides  over  the  destinies 
either  of  men  or  nations,  for  often  in  after 
days  I  have  had  cause  to  believe  that  an  in 
tending  Providence  was  concerned  in  the 
events  of  the  great  war. 

As  soon  as  I  had  made  an  end  of  my 
business  with  the  governor,  I  visited  my 
mother,  and  thence  rode  to  Mount  Vernon. 


150  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

There  I  found  Lord  Fairfax,  and  was 
pleased  to  be  rested  and  to  hear  his  lord 
ship  speak  well  of  my  conduct  of  a  difficult 
affair.  When  we  were  alone  next  day  on 
horseback,  he  rode  long  in  silence,  as  was 
his  way.  When  he  spoke  he  said :  ' i  George, 
I  have  sent  for  copies  of  your  report  to 
send  to  my  friends  in  England.  It  is  well 
done.  I  am  pleased  that  you  would  not  talk 
much  of  it  last  night  to  Colonel  Willis  and 
Mr.  Warner.  The  men  who  do  not  talk 
about  themselves  are  the  most  talked  about 
by  others.  Silence  often  insures  praise. " 
Indeed,  even  thus  early  and  since,  I  have 
been  averse  to  speak  of  what  I  had  done. 
I  replied  that  I  should  remember  his  lord 
ship's  advice,  upon  which  he  went  on  to 
talk  of  the  chances  of  war  with  France.  I 
was  not  left  long  idle. 


XXIII 

HE  governor  was  now  fully  decided  to 
JL  resist  the  French  aggressions,  and 
convened  the  House  of  Burgesses  after 
much  delay.  I  was  offered  full  command 
of  a  force  of  three  hundred  men  in  six 
companies,  forming  a  regiment.  I  con 
sulted  his  lordship  and  my  half-brother  Au 
gustine  as  to  this,  and  not  feeling  secure  of 
my  fitness  for  so  great  a  position,  and  they 
agreeing,  I  chose  rather  to  serve  as  second 
under  Colonel  Frye.  This  being  settled,  I 
went  about  the  business  of  recruiting  as 
lieutenant-colonel. 

In  considering  the  new  duty  to  which  I 
was  called  and  what  it  led  me  to  do,  I  have 
asked  myself  whether  I  could  have  done 
it  better,  considering  the  want  of  supplies 
and  of  sufficiency  of  men. 

Mr.  John  Langdon  at  one  time  wrote  to 
me,  when  commenting  on  the  character  of 
General  A ,  that  what  he  had  been  as 

151 


152  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

a  very  young  man  he  continued  to  be  ever 
after,  and  that,  although  education  and  op 
portunity  might  give  a  man  of  strong  char 
acter  the  tools  for  his  purposes,  they  would 
not  seriously  alter  his  nature;  he  would 
only  be  more  and  more  that  which  he  had 
been. 

As  I  sit  in  judgment  upon  the  particu 
lars  which  occasioned  the  affair  at  Great 
Meadows,  and  later  my  disaster  at  Fort  Ne 
cessity,  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  I  could 
have  done  no  better  at  fifty  than  I  did  at 
twenty-two.  I  perceive  also  that  the  con 
ditions  which  at  that  time  surrounded  and 
embarrassed  me  were  on  a  lesser  scale  the 
same  as  those  with  which  I  had  to  struggle 
in  the  later  and  more  important  days,  which 
made  me  old  before  my  time.  Such  com 
parisons  as  these  do  not  readily  occur  to 
me,  as  I  am  inclined  to  dwell  most  upon  the 
needs  of  the  present  and  upon  the  possibili 
ties  which  the  future  may  have  in  store. 

On  one  occasion,  during  the  march  to 
Yorktown,  when  bivouacked  at  the  head  of 
the  Elk,  Colonel  Scammel  and  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Hugh  Wynne,  both  at  that  time  of 
my  military  family,  led  me  into  expressing 
myself  as  to  these  earlier  events,  and  one  of 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  153 

them,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Wynne,  I  think, 
remarked  that  I  had  then  to  encounter  the 
same  kind  of  obstacles  as  those  which  had 
perplexed  me  at  the  Valley  Forge  and  Mor- 
ristown,  and  indeed  throughout  the  War  of 
Independency.  I  did  not  encourage  such 
further  discussion  by  these  young  officers  as 
might  readily  lead  on  to  the  impropriety  of 
criticisms  upon  Congress.  But  now,  recall 
ing  what  was  then  said,  I  am  led  to  see  how 
remarkably  alike  were  the  conditions  I  had 
to  meet  at  two  periods  of  my  life.  Nor  can 
I  fail  to  observe  that  what  General  Hamil 
ton  liked  very  often  to  call  "the  education 
of  events"  was  valuable  in  teaching  me 
moderation  and  such  control  of  temper  as 
I  was  to  need  on  a  larger  field. 

While  I  went  about  my  military  prepara 
tions,  the  governor  and  the  House  wrangled 
over  the  ten  thousand  pounds  he  asked  for 
the  fitting  out  of  troops.  I  have  observed 
that  men  engaged  in  agriculture  as  the  mas 
ters  of  slaves  acquire  a  great  independence 
of  thought  and  are  hard  to  move  to  a  com 
mon  agreement  even  when,  as  at  that  time, 
there  is  an  immediate  need  for  united 
action. 

There  was  also  much  distrust  of  Gover- 


154  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

nor  Dinwiddie,  and  indeed  we  rarely  sub 
mitted  with  entire  good  will  to  any  of  the 
royal  governors.  He  got  his  grant  at  last, 
but  a  committee  was  to  confer  with  him  as 
to  how  it  was  to  be  used— a  measure  not 
altogether  unwise,  but  which  made  him 
swear  we  were  getting  to  be  too  republican 
and,  he  feared,  would  be  more  and  more  dif 
ficult  to  be  brought  to  order. 

As  to  my  recruiting,  the  better  men  were 
indisposed  to  join,  and  I  got  chiefly  a  vaga 
bond  crew  of  shoeless,  half-dressed  fellows, 
but  most  of  them  hunters  and  good  shots. 
I  did  better  when  the  governor  offered  a 
bounty  in  land,  which  as  yet  we  had  not,  for 
it  was  to  be  about  the  fine  bottoms  at  the 
Forks  of  the  Ohio,  which  were  in  the  hands 
of  the  French  and  the  Indians. 

I  made  Van  Braam  a  captain,  and  there 
after  obtained  more  men  and  better,  for  the 
old  warrior  promised,  I  fear,  an  easy  time 
and  all  manner  of  agreeable  rewards,  with 
such  accounts  of  the  lands  they  were  to 
have  as  much  delighted  the  hard-working 
farmers'  sons. 

On  April  2  I  left  Alexandria,  with  orders 
to  secure  tools  and  build  roads,  for  Colonel 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  155 

Frye  to  follow  me  with  the  artillery  and  a 
greater  force. 

In  what  I  was  thus  set  to  do  I  knew  I 
was  to  have  difficulty,  and  this  it  was  hard 
to  make  Governor  Dinwiddie  understand, 
nor  do  I  think  he  or  our  rulers  in  England 
could  form  any  idea  of  the  country  to  be 
traversed,  even  up  to  the  Forks  of  the  Ohio. 
From  our  outlying  farms  westward  to  the 
Mississippi  was  a  great  forest  land  with 
savannas,  and  beyond  the  Ohio  vast  mea 
dows  where  buffalo  grazed.  Through  our 
own  hills  there  were  old  Indian  trails,  and 
as  far  as  to  the  Ohio  were  horse-paths  used 
by  the  traders  and  their  men.  There  were 
also  many  crossing-trails  made  by  horned 
game  to  reach  water,  and  apt  to  mislead 
any  but  men  accustomed  to  the  woods. 
Very  few  knew  this  mighty  wilderness,  nor 
was  it  easy  to  make  persons  unused  to  the 
woods  comprehend  the  obstacles  and  risks 
an  army  would  find  on  traversing  them  with 
waggons  and  artillery. 

As  I  have  said,  I  had  long  ago  fixed  upon 
the  Forks  of  the  Ohio  as  an  excellent  sta 
tion  for  a  fort.  The  French  were  also  of 
this  opinion,  and  in  their  hands  it  became 


156  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

at  last  Fort  Duquesne,  and  in  1759  was 
lightly  given  up  by  them  to  General  Forbes. 
At  this  earlier  date  our  governor,  resolving 
to  take  my  advice,  made  choice  of  Captain 
Trent  to  build  a  fort  at  the  Forks,  where  we 
prepared  to  follow  and  support  him.  Hav 
ing  failed  on  a  former  and  easier  errand,  it 
was  foolish  to  have  expected  better  things 
of  this  man  in  a  more  difficult  matter.  He 
was  given  only  fifty  men,  as  it  was  supposed 
he  would  not  be  attacked. 

While  I  was  on  my  way  to  Wills  Creek 
from  Winchester,  Contrecceur  dropped 
down-stream  from  Venango  with  a  great 
force  and  took  the  half-finished  fort,  Cap 
tain  Trent  being  absent  at  the  time.  I  was 
near  to  Wills  Creek  when  I  learned  of  this 
disaster.  Colonel  Frye  and  other  detach 
ments  were  to  follow  me,  but  I  saw  that 
we  were  now  in  a  way  to  be  devoured  in 
bits  by  the  larger  French  forces.  Every 
thing  I  needed  was  lacking.  I  had  been 
cursed  along  the  border  for  my  taking  of 
waggons,  horses,  and  food,  and  when  I 
would  have  picks,  shovels,  and  axes,  it  was 
worse. 

I  heard  while  here  from  Mr.  Fairfax,  de 
siring  me  not  to  neglect  having  divine  serv 
ice  in  the  camps  for  the  benefit  of  the 


THE   YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  157 

Indians.  I  did  on  one  occasion,  but  as 
Davidson  told  me  they  considered  it  some 
form  of  incantation,  I  did  not  repeat  it.  I 
had  also  a  letter  from  my  mother,  meant 
to  have  found  me  earlier.  It  seemed 
strange  amid  anxieties  like  mine  to  be  asked 
to  send  her  a  good  Dutch  servant  and,  if 
I  remember  correctly,  four  pounds  of 
good  Dutch  butter.  I  had  far  other  busi 
ness. 

At  the  Ohio  Company's  post  at  Wills 
Creek,  nothing  was  ready;  only  Captain 
Trent,  full  of  excuses  for  the  failure  of 
horses  and  boats,  and  much  cast  down  at 
the  news  of  the  loss  of  the  fort.  I  sent 
back  for  waggons  and  horses  sixty  miles  to 
Winchester,  and  waited  as  patiently  as  I 
could. 

On  April  23  came  the  men  of  Trent's 
party,  released  by  the  French.  The  ensign, 
Mr.  Ward,  was  the  only  officer  with  them, 
and  to  surrender  was  all  he  could  do.  He 
told  me  of  hundreds  of  Chippewas  and  Ot- 
tawas  coming  to  join  Contrecoeur,  and  of 
another  force  descending  the  Ohio.  To  add 
to  my  troubles,  Trent's  men  were  disor 
derly,  making  my  men  uneasy  by  their 
stories. 

At  this  time  I  was  decently  housed  in  a 


158  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

small  log  hut,  and  here,  retiring  by  myself, 
I  fell  to  thinking  of  what  I  had  heard  and 
what  I  ought  to  do.  The  situation  de 
manded  serious  consideration,  but  also 
speedy  action. 


XXIV 

I  HAD  been  sent  forward  to  build  bridges, 
to  corduroy  swamps  for  the  cannon,  and 
to  make  roads.  I  was  not  to  bring  on  hos 
tilities,  but  I  was  to  assert  the  King's  title 
and,  at  need,  to  resist  the  French.  The  or 
ders  were  well  fitted  to  get  me  into  trouble, 
but  the  capture  of  Trent's  fort  and  men 
somewhat  aided  my  decision,  for  this  was 
an  act  of  open  war.  While  thus  occupied, 
a  runner  fetched  me  letters,  and  among 
them  one  from  Lord  Fairfax. 

As  adjutant  of  the  Northern  Division 
since  I  was  nineteen,  I  was  prepared  for 
much  that  his  lordship's  letter  conveyed, 
but  it  went  in  some  respects  beyond  what 
I  then  knew  or  was  prepared  for,  and,  I  may 
add  also,  much  beyond  the  views  which 
his  lordship  came  later  to  entertain,  when 
men  were  obliged  to  elect  as  between  loy 
alty  to  the  King  and  disloyalty  to  human 
rights. 

159 


160  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

This  letter  now  before  me  runs  as  fol 
lows  : 

Greenway  Court, 

MY  DEAR  GEORGE  :  Yours  received  from  Alex 
andria,  and  thank  you  for  the  attention  when 
you  were  so  busily  engaged.  I  am  always  pleased 
to  be  acquainted  with  anything  to  your  advan 
tage,  and  was  gratified  at  your  being  chosen  to  be 
of  the  force.  I  desire  you,  however,  to  under 
stand  that  your  worst  enemies  will  not  be  the 
French,  or  the  fickle  Indians,  but  those  in  the 
rear. 

There  is  of  late  years  a  great  desire  for  free 
dom  in  all  the  colonies,  and  men  are  disposed 
to  dispute  the  too  royal  sense  of  prerogative 
on  the  part  of  the  governors.  Whenever,  as 
now,  money  is  to  be  voted,  the  houses  in  the 
several  colonies  are  apt  to  use  the  occasion  to 
dispute  it,  and  to  bargain  for  something  else  as  a 
reward  for  their  grant  of  supplies.  The  with 
holding  of  money  has  been  the  chief  means  of 
governing  kings  by  our  own  Commons.  I  blame 
it  not.  But  this  present  reluctance  is  without 
cause— foolish,  and  at  a  wrong  season.  As  to 
the  difficulty  of  disciplining  our  people  you  know 
enough,  and  will  know  more;  but  they  will 
always  fight,  which  may  console  for  other  de 
fects.  The  want  of  an  organized  commissary 
you  will  feel  of  a  surety,  but  less  than  with  regu 
lars,  who  do  not  know  as  do  our  people  how  to 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  161 

diet  their  English  bellies,  or  how  to  forage  at 
need  on  wood  and  river.  Prepare,  too,  for  de 
sertion  and  drunkenness,  which  is  the  curse  of 
the  land.  But  I  must  forbear,  lest  I  discourage 
you,  although  that  I  consider  not  to  be  easy.  I 
would  that  you  smoked  a  pipe.  It  confers  great 
equanimity  in  times  of  doubt,  and  the  Indians 
hold  it  to  be  helpful  in  council ;  for  while  a  man 
smokes  he  cannot  discourse,  and  thus  must  needs 
obtain  time  for  sober  reflection,  for  which  reason 
it  would  be  well  that  women  took  to  the  pipe, 
a  custom  which  would  greatly  conduce  to  com 
fort  in  the  condition  of  armed  neutrality  known 
as  the  married  state.  Charles  Sedley  once  said 
in  my  company  that  the  pipe  was  the  bachelor's 
hearth,  and  I  have  found  it  a  good  one.  Indeed, 
my  dear  George,  when  I  reflect  upon  the  many 
statues  of  worthless  kings  and  the  monuments  to 
scoundrels  in  graveyards  where  the  dead  lie  and 
the  living  lie  about  them,  I  am  inclined  to  set  up 
a  fine  memorial  at'Greenway  Court  to  the  un 
known  Indian  who  invented  this  blessing  of  the 
Pipe.  He  must  have  been  a  great  genius. 

Wishing  you  the  best  of  luck,  and  that  I  were 
young  enough  to  be  with  you,  I  am, 

Yours, 
Fairfax. 

P.  S.     You  will  at  some  time  have  to  serve 
with  regulars  or  with  colonial  officers  appointed 

by  the  crown.    Your  sense  of  justice  and  of  what 
11 


162  THE   YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

is  due  to  a  gentleman  will,  I  am  assured,  revolt  at 
the  want  of  parity  in  pay  and  at  other  claims  to 
outrank  gentlemen  of  the  colonies  serving  in  the 
militia.  As  to  this  I  counsel  moderation  and  en 
durance.  Your  first  duty  must  be  to  the  crown. 

F. 

It  was  raining  heavily  as  I  sat  that  night 
and  considered  what  I  should  do.  To  fall 
back  I  had  no  mind.  I  had  been  set  to  the 
slow  work  of  preparing  roads,  and  had 
made  them  up  to  the  west  branch  of  the 
Youghiogheny,  about  four  miles  a  day,  and 
here  meant  to  make  a  bridge.  As  I  sat  in 
the  log  cabin  alone,  deciding  what  next  to 
do,  came  in  Van  Braam  with  a  warning 
from  the  Half -King,  and,  just  after,  a 
trader  who  had  been  driven  out  by  the 
French  and  who  told  me  that  a  force  sent 
from  Duquesne  was  at  least  eight  hundred 
in  number.  This  I  was  sure  could  not  be 
the  case,  and  until  I  knew  more  I  could  not 
decide  what  to  do.  I  asked  to  be  alone,  and 
with  a  candle  and  a  rude  map  considered 
the  situation.  I  concluded  that  the  French 
would  make  no  considerable  move  forward 
until  they  had  made  secure  the  excellent 
position  they  had  taken  from  Trent.  I  was 
of  opinion  they  would  meanwhile  send  out 
small  parties  to  scout. 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  163 

After  a  council  with  my  officers,  we  re 
solved  to  go  on  to  fortify  a  post  of  the  Ohio 
Company  at  Redstone  Creek,  near  the 
Monongahela,  and  after  sending  back  ur 
gent  letters  we  set  out,  doing  the  best  we 
could  as  to  the  road.  On  May  9,  at  Little 
Meadows,  we  were  met  by  many  traders, 
driven  in  by  the  French,  with  tales  which 
much  discouraged  my  men— in  all  some  two 
hundred;  and  still  I  pushed  on  to  the 
Youghiogheny,  and  there  kept  the  men  busy 
with  the  bridging  of  it.  Leaving  them  oc 
cupied  in  this  manner,  I  explored  the 
Youghiogheny  for  a  better  way  by  water 
than  over  the  hills,  but  found  it  impracti 
cable,  and  so  came  back  to  do  as  best  I 
could  with  the  road  over  the  mountains. 

That  night  I  was  again  called  on  for  a 
decision.  I  remember  I  walked  to  and  fro, 
considering  how  it  was  but  an  outpost,  with 
nothing  near  in  the  way  of  succour,  and  be 
fore  me  the  French  and  the  wilderness. 

Van  Braam,  whom  I  had  sent  out  to 
scout,  had  before  this  appeared,  bringing 
news  that,  eighteen  miles  below,  the  French 
were  crossing  by  a  ford,  their  number  un 
known;  also  that  several  of  our  men  had 
deserted  and  that  there  was  much  uneasi 
ness  in  the  camp.  I  was  myself  quite  un- 


164  THE  YOUTH  OF   WASHINGTON 

easy  enough.  Many  times  since  I  have 
been  in  as  doubtful  and  perilous  situations, 
where  the  fate  of  an  empire  was  concerned, 
but  then  I  have  had  with  me  officers  of  dis 
tinction.  I  was  alone,  hardly  more  than  a 
boy,  and  surrounded  by  men  who  were  be 
coming  alarmed. 

I  said  to  Van  Braam  that  we  must  not  be 
caught  here,  but  that  I  would  not  fall  back 
very  far.  The  old  trooper  smiled,  and  I 
confess  to  having  been  pleased  by  this  sign 
of  approval.  My  mind  was  made  up  not  to 
return  to  the  settlements  except  before  an 
overwhelming  force. 


XXV 

ON  May  23,  six  more  men  being  gone 
away,  I  retreated  to  Great  Meadows, 
a  wide,  open  space  free  of  large  trees,  a 
charming  place  for  an  encounter,  and  here 
I  cleared  the  ground  of  bushes,  began  a  log 
fort,  and  prepared  to  remain  until  I  heard 
further.  This  I  did  very  soon,  for  Gist,  the 
trader,  came  in  on  the  25th  of  May  with 
news  of  my  old  acquaintance,  La  Force, 
having  been  at  his  camp,  at  noon  the  day 
before,  with  some  fifty  men,  and  one,  De 
Jumonville,  in  command.  They  were  fool 
ish  enough  not  to  hold  Gist,  for  he  got  off 
and  warned  me  of  their  being  not  five  miles 
from  us.  They  had  been  sending  runners 
back  to  Contrecoeur,  and  what  were  their 
intentions  Gist  did  not  know.  That  night  I 
got  news  of  my  doubtful  Half-King,  who 
promised  help  if  I  would  attack  this  party. 
Whatever  indecision  I  have  had  in  my  life 
of  warfare  has  been  due  to  a  too  great  re 
spect  for  the  opinions  of  other  officers,  and 

165 


166  THE  YOUTH  OF   WASHINGTON 

very  often  I  had  done  better  to  have  gone 
my  own  way.  All  day  long  I  had  been  in 
the  melancholic  state  of  mind  which  at 
times  all  my  life  has  troubled  me.  I  re 
member  that  the  news  from  Gist  of  this 
prowling  band  so  near  as  five  miles,  and 
the  word  sent  by  the  Half-King,  at  once  put 
to  rout  my  lowness  of  mind.  Usually  young 
officers  go  into  their  first  battle  under  more 
experienced  guidance,  and  I  now  wonder 
at  the  confidence  with  which  I  set  out,  for 
some  of  my  officers  were  clear  against  it. 

I  felt  sure  that  De  Jumonville  would  at 
tack  me  if  I  retreated,  or,  if  I  let  him  alone, 
would  wait  for  further  help  and  orders  from 
Contrecoeur  before  making  an  end  of  my  lit 
tle  party.  That  I  was  to  strike  openly  the 
forces  of  the  King  of  France  did  not  dis 
turb  me,  after  their  seizure  of  our  fort  at 
the  Forks. 

When  I  told  Van  Braam  and  Gist  what  I 
meant  to  do,  the  former  approved,  but  Gist 
would  have  had  me  retreat  to  Wills  Creek. 
I  said  no;  we  would  surely  be  ambushed, 
and  the  men  were  deserting. 

Having  given  my  orders,  I  tied  an  extra 
pair  of  moccasins  to  my  belt,  and  taking 
no  gun  myself,  set  out  at  10  P.M.,  leaving 


THE  YOUTH  OF   WASHINGTON  167 

behind  me  a  baggage-guard.  I  took  with 
me  forty  men,  the  best  I  had,  and  mostly 
good  shots.  The  Half -King  and  a  few  war 
riors  in  full  war-paint  met  me  at  a  spring 
some  two  miles  away. 

His  scouts  had  found  the  French  in  a 
rocky  valley,  where  they  had  cleared  a  space 
and  evidently  meant  to  await  orders  or  re 
inforcements. 

The  rain  was  pouring  down  in  torrents, 
the  worst  that  could  be,  when  we  met  the 
Half-King.  We  halted  in  the  darkness  of 
the  forest  while  my  interpreter  let  me  know 
the  situation  of  De  Jumonville,  which 
seemed  to  me  to  be  well  chosen  as  a  hid 
ing-place,  but  ill  contrived  for  defence. 
After  this  we  pushed  on,  the  Indian  guides 
being  ahead.  Several  times  they  lost  their 
way.  We  stumbled  on  in  the  wet  woods, 
falling  against  one  another,  so  dark  was 
the  night,  and  crawling  under  or  over  the 
rotten  trees  of  a  windfall.  I  was  both  eager 
and  anxious,  and  kept  on  in  front,  or  at 
times  fell  back  to  silence  my  men.  We  were 
moving  so  slowly  that  my  anxiety  contin 
ually  increased,  and  I  had  constantly  to 
warn  my  men  to  keep  their  flint-locks  dry. 

At  last,  toward  dawn  of  day,  we  came 


168  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

where  we  could  look  down  on  the  camp. 
The  wind  being  in  our  faces,  we  had  smelt 
the  smoke  of  their  fires  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
away,  and  now  and  then,  even  at  this  dis 
tant  day,  the  smell  of  the  smoke  from  wet 
wood  smouldering  in  the  rain  recalls  to 
my  mind  this  night,  a  fact  which  appears  to 
me  singular.  To  my  joy,  the  camp  was  si 
lent  and  there  were  no  sentinels.  I  halted 
the  men,  and  my  orders  were  whispered 
down  the  trail  for  them  to  scatter  to  the 
right  while  the  Indians  moved  to  the  left. 
After  giving  time  for  this,  I  moved  out 
alone  from  the  shelter  of  the  rocks  and  trees. 
As  I  did  so,  a  man  came  from  a  hut  and 
gave  a  great  shout.  At  once  the  French 
were  out  with  their  arms  and  began  to  fire, 
but  had  no  cover.  Some  of  my  own  men 
were  practised  Indian-fighters  and  kept  to 
the  shelter  of  the  trees,  moving  from  trunk 
to  trunk  and  firing  very  deliberately.  I 
heard  the  enemy 's  bullets  whizz  around  me, 
and  felt  at  once  and  for  the  first  time  in 
war  the  strange  exhilaration  of  danger.  A 
man  fell  at  my  side,  and  I  called  to  those 
near  me  to  keep  to  the  trees,  but  did  not 
myself  fall  back,  feeling  it  well  to  encourage 
my  men. 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  169 

For  a  little  while  the  firing  was  hot.  It 
lasted,  however,  but  fifteen  minutes.  Then 
I  saw  an  officer  fall,  and  they  gave  up  and 
cried  for  quarter  as  I  ran  down  into  their 
camp  to  stop  the  Indians  from  using  their 
tomahawks  and  killing  the  wounded. 

Van  Braam  told  me  afterwards  that  I 
exposed  myself  needlessly,  but  I  thought 
this  was  necessary  in  order  to  give  spirit 
and  confidence  to  men  who  were  many  of 
them  new  to  battle. 

Our  loss  was  small  and  that  of  the  French 
great,  since  De  Jumonville,  who  was  in 
command,  and  ten  men  were  killed  and 
twenty-two  taken,  with  some  others  hurt. 

I  remember  to  have  written  my  brother 
Jack  of  this  little  fight,  that  the  whistle  of 
the  bullets  was  pleasing  to  me ;  but  I  was 
then  very  young,  and  it  was,  after  all,  but 
a  way  of  saying  that  the  sense  of  danger, 
or  risk,  was  agreeable. 

On  our  way  back  through  the  woods  I 
talked  to  La  Force,  who  was  in  no  wise  cast 
down  and  told  me  that  I  should  pay  dear 
for  my  success,  and  how  innocent  they  were, 
and  a  fine  string  of  lies. 

I  was  very  well  pleased  to  have  caught 
this  fellow,  one  of  the  most  wily  and  trou- 


170  THE  YOUTH  OF   WASHINGTON 

blesome  half-breeds  on  the  frontier,  and  a 
fine  maker  of  mischief,  as  he  had  been  when 
I  was  on  my  way  to  the  lake. 

After  the  fight  we  found,  on  the  person 
of  De  Jumonville  and  in  his  hut,  papers 
amply  proving  his  hostile  intention,  al 
though  even  without  this  evidence  his  hid 
ing  so  long  in  our  neighbourhood,  and 
sending  out  runners  to  Fort  Duquesne,  suffi 
ciently  showed  what  my  party  had  to  ex 
pect  when  the  French  would  be  reinforced. 

After  the  fight  it  was  thought  prudent 
to  return  as  soon  as  possible,  so,  to  my 
regret,  I  had  to  leave  the  dead,  both  our 
own  and  the  French,  without  decent  burial. 
This  I  believe  they  had  later  at  the  hand 
of  De  Villiers.  Although  the  fugitives  were 
nearly  all  taken,  one  or  two  escaped  and 
took  the  news  to  Contrecoeur,  at  the  Forks 
of  the  Ohio.  I  sent  my  prisoners  to  Wil- 
liamsburg  under  a  strong  guard,  having 
previously  supplied  M.  Drouillon,  a  young 
officer,  and  La  Force  with  clothes  of  my 
own  out  of  the  very  little  I  had.  I  remem 
ber  that  I  was  amused  when  Drouillon,  a 
pert  little  fellow,  complained  that  my  shirt 
was  too  big  for  him.  Indeed,  it  came  down 
near  to  his  ankles. 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  171 

I  asked  of  the  governor  in  a  letter  such 
respect  and  favour  for  these  persons  as 
was  due  to  gentlemen  placed  in  their  unfor 
tunate  condition.  Neither  of  them  seemed 
to  me  to  have  been  aware  of  the  character 
of  their  commander's  orders.  To  my  re 
gret,  the  request  I  made  to  Governor  Din- 
widdie  received  small  consideration,  as  I 
may  have  to  relate.  I  was  of  opinion,  how 
ever,  that  La  Force  should  not  be  set  free 
too  soon,  because  of  his  power  to  influence 
the  Indians. 


XXVI 

THE  action  with  De  Jumonville  took 
place  on  May  28,  and  the  Half- King, 
although  disappointed  as  to  scalps,  went 
away,  promising  to  return  with  many  war 
riors.  He  told  me  his  friends  the  English 
had  now  at  last  begun  in  earnest,  but  that 
it  was  no  good  war  to  keep  prisoners. 

As  I  trusted  him  more  than  most  of  the 
Indians,  I  sent  thirty  men  and  some  horses 
to  assist  in  moving  the  Indian  families,  for 
without  them  the  warriors  would  never  re 
turn  ;  and  I  did  not  neglect  to  send  a  runner 
back  to  hasten  Mackay,  who  was  in  com 
mand  of  an  independent  company  from 
South  Carolina.  They  were  indeed  quite 
independent,  having  neither  good  sense  nor 
discipline,  as  I  was  soon  to  discover.  My 
little  skirmish  with  the  French  on  May  28 
added  to  my  perplexities  the  knowledge  that 
as  soon  as  the  runners  who  escaped  should 
reach  the  fort  at  the  Forks  Contrecceur 

172 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  173 

would  undertake  to  avenge  the  loss  of  his 
officer. 

While  I  was  impatiently  waiting  supplies 
from  Croghan  at  Wills  Creek,  for  now  we 
were  six  days  without  flour,  came  news  that 
Colonel  Frye,  my  commander,  was  dead  at 
that  post.  Colonel  Innes  of  North  Carolina, 
who  was  to  succeed  him  in  the  whole  com 
mand,  lay  at  Winchester  with  four  hundred 
men;  but  as  he  continued  to  lie  there,  nei 
ther  he  nor  his  troops  were  of  any  use  in  the 
campaign. 

During  the  period  which  elapsed  between 
my  fight  on  May  28  and  my  being  attacked 
on  July  3,  being  now  a  colonel,  and  sure  of 
soon  being  reinforced,  I  made  haste  to  com 
plete  the  fort  at  Great  Meadows. 

There  I  had  excellent  help  from  Captain 
Stobo  and  Mr.  Adam  Stephen,  whom  I 
made  captain,  and  who,  long  after,  be 
came  a  general  and  served  under  me  in  the 
great  war. 

It  was  only  a  log  work  we  built,  near  to 
breast-high,  with  no  roof,  one  hundred 
feet  square,  with  partitions,  and  surrounded 
at  some  distance  by  a  too  shallow  ditch  and 
palisadoes.  Captain  Stobo  gave  to  this  de 
fence  the  name  of  Fort  Necessity,  and  said 


174  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

that  the  name  was  suggested  by  his  empty 
belly,  for  indeed  we  were  at  this  time  half 
starved. 

Near  about  this  time  came  three  hundred 
men  from  Wills  Creek,  and,  to  my  satisfac 
tion,  my  friend  Dr.  Craik,  who  was  of  a 
merry  disposition,  and  kept  us  in  good  hu 
mour,  besides  what  aid  he  gave  us  a,s  a  phy 
sician,  and  I  never  had  the  service  of  a 
better. 

On  the  9th  of  June  arrived  my  old  mili 
tary  teacher,  Adjutant  Muse,  with  other 
men,  nine  swivels,  and  a  very  small  sup 
ply  of  ammunition.  He  fetched  with  him 
a  wampum  belt  and  presents  and  medals 
for  the  Indians,  as  I  had  desired  of  the 
governor. 

At  this  time,  in  order  to  secure  the  In 
dians,  who  are  fickle  and  must  always  be 
bribed,  we  had  a  fine  ceremony,  and  I  de 
livered  a  speech  sent  from  the  governor. 

Dr.  Craik  gave  me,  two  years  ago,  the  ac 
count  he  wrote  home  of  this  occasion,  and 
I  leave  it  in  this  place  for  the  time,  since 
it  serves  to  record  matters  of  which  I  have 
no  distinct  remembrance,  and  is  better  wrote 
than  it  would  have  been  by  me. 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  175 

MY  DEAR  ANNE:  To-day,  before  we  move  on,  I 
send  you  a  letter  by  a  runner  who  returns  to 
hasten  our  supplies.  We  had  a  great  ceremony 
to-day.  A  space  in  the  meadows  near  the  fort 
was  cleared,  and  all  our  men  set  around  under 
arms  in  a  great  circle.  In  the  middle  stood  the 
Colonel,  very  tall  and,  like  all  of  us,  very  lean 
for  lack  of  diet,  for  we  are  all  shrunk  like  per 
simmons  in  December.  Before  him  were  seated 
the  Half-King  and  the  son  of  Aliquippa,  the 
Queen  of  one  of  the  tribes.  Last  year  our 
Colonel  gave  her  a  red  match-coat  and  a  bottle 
of  rum,  and  now  she  is  his  great  friend  and 
waiting  for  more  favours,  especially  rum. 

The  warriors  were  painted  to  beat  even  a 
London  lady,  and  no  bird  has  more  feathers  or 
finer.  The  pipe  of  Council  was  passed  around, 
and  all  took  a  few  whiffs.  When  it  came  to 
the  turn  of  our  Colonel,  he  sneezed  and 
coughed  and  made  a  wry  face,  but  none  of  the 
Indians  so  much  as  smiled,  for  they  are  a  very 
solemn  folk.  I  could  not  refrain  to  laugh,  so 
hid  my  face  in  the  last  handkerchief  I  possess. 
There  are  holes  in  it,  too.  Then  we  had  the 
Indian's  speech  and  that  the  Governor  sent  to 
be  spoken.  After  this  the  Colonel  hung  around 
the  necks  of  the  Chiefs  medals  of  silver  sent 
from  England.  One  had  the  British  lion  maul 
ing  the  Gallic  cock,  and  on  the  other  side  the 


176  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

King's  effigy.  Then  the  drums  were  beat,  and 
the  son  of  Aliquippa  was  taken  into  Council  as 
a  sachem,  and  given,  as  is  the  custom,  a  new 
name.  I  suppose  it  is  a  kind  of  heathen  Chris 
tening.  He  was  called  Fairfax.  I  hope  his 
Lordship  will  look  after  his  Godson,  or  devil 
son,  as  he  is  more  like  to  be.  The  Half-King 
was  made  proud  with  the  name  of  Dinwiddie, 
and  so  we  are  friends  until  to-morrow,  and 
allies— I  call  them  all  lies.  After  this  the 
Colonel  read  the  morning  service,  which  I  hope 
pleased  them.  They  believed  he  was  making 
magic. 

This  is  a  good  account,  and  I  certainly 
did  make  a  face  with  the  tobacco-smoke, 
for,  although  at  that  time  I  raised  the  weed, 
I  cannot  endure  it. 

Captain  Mackay  arrived  on  the  7th  of 
June,  but  it  came  about  untowardly  that 
the  company  which  thus  joined  me  was 
not  Virginian,  and  gave  me  more  trouble 
than  help.  I  may  be  wrong  concerning 
the  date  of  Captain  Mackay 's  arrival,  but 
he  was  with  us  when,  on  the  10th  of  June, 
I  moved  out  of  our  fort  to  prepare  the 
road  for  the  larger  attempt  proposed  to 
take  the  defences  at  the  Forks  of  the  Ohio. 
I  soon  found  that  I  was  to  have  difficulty 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  177 

with  this  officer.  I  found  him  a  good  sort 
of  a  gentleman,  but,  as  he  had  a  distinct 
commission  from  the  King,  he  declined  to 
receive  my  commands,  and,  I  found,  would 
rather  impede  the  service  than  forward  it. 
I  have  made  it  a  rule,  however,  to  do  the 
best  I  can  in  regard  to  obstacles  I  cannot 
control,  and  so  I  kept  my  temper  and  was 
always  civil  to  this  gentleman,  even  when 
he  would  not  permit  his  men,  unless  paid  a 
shilling  a  day,  to  assist  in  the  making  of 
roads. 

As  two  masters  are  worse  in  an  army 
than  anywhere  else,  he  agreed  willingly 
enough  to  remain  at  Fort  Necessity,  while 
I  went  on  toward  Kedstone  Creek  with  my 
Virginians  to  better  my  road.  It  was  a 
hard  task,  and  at  night  the  men  were  so 
tired  that  the  scouts  and  sentries  could 
hardly  keep  awake.  The  Indians  came  in 
daily,  asking  presents,  and  were  mostly 
spies. 

At  Gist's  old  camp,  thirteen  miles  from 
Great  Meadows,  I  learned  that  Fort  Du- 
quesne  had  been  reinforced  and  that  I  was 
to  be  attacked  by  a  large  force.  I  sent  back 
for  Mackay,  and  at  once  called  in  all  my 
hunters  and  scouting-parties.  When  Cap- 


178  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

tain  Mackay  arrived  we  held  a  council  and 
resolved  that  we  had  a  better  chance  to  de 
fend  ourselves  at  Fort  Necessity.  The  of 
ficers  gave  up  their  horses  to  carry  the  am 
munition,  and  we  began  a  retreat  with  all 
possible  speed.  The  weather  was  of  the 
worst,  very  hot  and  raining,  and  the  Caro 
lina  men,  who  called  themselves  king's  sol 
diers,  would  give  no  assistance  in  dragging 
the  swivels.  What  with  hunger  and  toil, 
my  rangers  were  worn  out  when,  on  July  1, 
we  were  come  back  to  the  fort.  I  was  of 
half  a  mind  to  push  on  and  secure  my  re 
treat  to  Wills  Creek;  but  the  men  refused 
to  go  on  with  the  swivels,  and  the  few 
horses  we  had  were  mere  bone-bags,  and 
some  of  them  hardly  fit  to  walk. 

I  turned  over  the  matter  that  night  with 
Captains  Mackay  and  Stephen,  and  re 
solved,  for,  indeed,  I  could  do  no  better, 
to  send  for  help  and  abide  in  the  fort.  I 
was  well  aware  that  to  retreat  would  turn 
every  Indian  on  the  frontier  against  us,  and 
I  was  in  good  hope  to  hold  out. 

If,  as  I  wrote  the  governor,  the  French 
behaved  with  no  greater  spirit  than  they 
did  in  the  Jumonville  affair,  I  might  yet 
come  off  well  enough  if  provisions  reached 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  179 

me  in  time,  and  I  thought  with  proper  re 
inforcements  we  should  have  no  great  trou 
ble  in  driving  them  to  the  devil  and 
Montreal. 

On  the  evening  of  July  1  an  Indian  run 
ner  came  in.  He  had  been  with  De  Villiers 
and  a  force  from  Duquesne.  He  told  me 
that  when  that  officer  reached  Gist's  pali- 
sado  he  fired  on  it,  but,  finding  no  one  there, 
was  of  a  mind  to  go  back,  thinking  I  had 
returned  to  the  settlements.  Unfortunately, 
some  of  our  Indians,  who  were  now  leaving 
us  in  numbers,  told  him  I  meant  to  make  a 
stand  at  Fort  Necessity. 

Whether  I  should  fall  back  farther  or 
not  was  now  a  matter  for  little  choice.  If 
I  retreated  with  tired,  half-starved  men  and 
no  rum  for  refreshment,  De  Villiers 's  large, 
well-fed  force  and  quick-footed  Indians 
would  surely  overtake  us,  and  we  should 
have  to  meet  superiour  numbers  without  be 
ing  intrenched.  If  Captain  Mackay  and  his 
men,  in  my  absence,  had  done  anything  to 
complete  my  fort,  I  should  have  fared  bet 
ter.  Meanwhile  we  might  be  aided  with  men 
from  Winchester,  or,  at  least,  be  provi 
sioned.  I  said  nothing  to  the  South  Caro 
lina  officer  of  his  neglect,  for  that  would 


180  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

do  no  good,  and  I  desired  when  it  came  to 
fighting  he  should  be  in  a  good  humour. 

News  seemed  to  fly  through  the  forests  as 
if  the  birds  carried  it,  and  I  was  not  sur 
prised  to  learn  before  I  got  to  the  fort  that 
the  Half-King  and  nearly  all  his  warriors 
had  stolen  away.  He  was  out  of  humour 
with  the  officers  I  had  left  in  charge  and 
said  no  one  consulted  him.  I  think  he  de 
sired  to  escape  a  superiour  force  and  to  as 
sure  the  safety  of  his  squaws  and  papooses, 
whom  I  was  not  ill  pleased  to  be  rid  of,  but 
not  of  the  warriors. 

After  my  men  were  fed,  Captain  Stobo, 
Adjutant  Muse,  Captain  Stephen,  and  I 
took  off  our  coats  and  went  to  work  to  help 
with  axes,  Dr.  Craik  very  merry  and  cheer 
ing  the  poor  fellows,  who  were  worn  out 
with  work. 

We  raised  the  log  shelter  a  log  higher, 
and  dug  our  ditch  deeper,  and,  had  we  had 
more  time,  had  done  better  to  have  enlarged 
the  fort,  for  it  was  quite  too  small  for  the 
force. 


XXVII 

ON  the  evening  of  July  2, 1  went  over  the 
place  with  Captain  Stobo.  We  were  in 
the  middle  of  a  grassy  meadow  about  two 
hundred  and  fifty  yards  wide,  and  no  wood 
nearer  than  sixty  yards.  Stobo  would  have 
had  us  cut  down  the  nearer  trees,  but  the 
rangers  could  work  no  more.  As  to  men, 
I  had  enough,  if  I  had  been  supplied  with 
ammunition  and  food. 

The  next  day  being  the  3d,  this  was  tried 
—I  mean  the  clearing  away  of  trees;  but 
about  half-past  ten  I  heard  a  shot  in  the 
woods  on  that  side  where  the  ground  rises, 
and  at  once  all  the  men  hurried  in,  as  was 
beforehand  agreed,  and  a  sentry  ran  limp 
ing  out  of  the  woods,  wounded.  Next  came 
our  scouts  in  haste  to  say  the  French  and 
Indians,  a  great  force,  were  a  mile  away, 
eight  hundred  it  was  thought.  At  eleven 
I  saw  them  in  the  forest  on  the  nearest  rise 
of  ground,  well  under  cover.  I  left  Captain 

181 


182  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

Mackay  in  the  fort,  and  set  my  rangers  in 
the  ditch,  fairly  covered  by  the  earth  cast 
up  in  the  digging  of  it,  hoping  the  enemy 
would  make  an  assault.  But  they  kept  in  the 
woods  and  fired  incessantly.  About  4  P.M. 
it  came  on  to  rain  very  heavy,  with  thunder 
and  lightning.  So  great  was  the  downfall 
that  the  water  flowing  into  the  ditch  half 
filled  it,  and  the  pans  and  primings  of  the 
muskets  got  wetted,  and  our  fire  fell  off. 
Seeing  this,  I  drew  the  men  within  the  pali- 
sadoes  and  the  log  fort,  where  they  were 
favourably  disposed  to  resist  an  attack,  for 
which  the  enemy  seemed  to  have  no  stom 
ach.  This  was  near  about  5  P.M.,  and  soon, 
to  my  dismay,  shots  began  to  fall  among  us 
from  the  Indians,  who  climbed  the  trees  and 
thus  had  us  at  an  advantage. 

Many  men  began  to  drop,  and  De  Pey- 
ronney,  a  Huguenot  captain,  was  badly 
wounded,  while  our  own  shooting,  because 
of  the  torrent  of  rain,  was  much  slackened, 
and  at  dusk  our  ammunition  nearly  all  used. 
Twelve  men  were  killed  and  forty-three 
wounded  out  of  the  three  hundred  rangers, 
but  how  many  out  of  the  Independent  com 
pany  I  do  not  know,  nor  was  the  loss  of  the 
enemy  ever  ascertained. 


THE   YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  183 

About  7  P.M.,  seeing  that  we  had  almost 
ceased  to  fire,  the  French  called  a  parley, 
which  I  declined ;  but  at  eight,  knowing  our 
state  and  that  we  had  scarce  any  provisions 
left,  I  answered  their  second  flag  that  I 
would  send  an  officer,  and  for  this  errand 
would  have  ordered  De  Peyronney,  who 
spoke  the  French  tongue,  but  that  he  was 
hurt  and  in  great  pain.  I  had  no  one  but 
Van  Braam  who  knew  any  French.  He 
went,  and  returned  with  demands  for  a 
capitulation  so  dishonourable  that  I  could 
not  consider  them.  At  last,  however,  we 
came  to  terms,  which  were  to  march  out 
with  all  the  honours  of  war,  Van  Braam  and 
Captain  Stobo  volunteering  to  go  as  hos 
tages  for  the  return  of  Drouillon  and  La 
Force. 

It  was  eleven  o'clock  at  night  and  very 
dark  when  Van  Braam  translated  the  final 
terms  of  capitulation.  We  were  to  march 
away  unmolested  and  to  agree  not  to  build 
forts  or  occupy  the  lands  of  his  Most  Chris 
tian  Majesty  for  a  year;  but  to  this  vague 
stipulation  I  did  not  object.  It  was  raining 
furiously,  and  we  heard  the  terms  read  by 
the  light  of  one  candle,  which  was  put  out 
by  the  rain,  over  and  over,  as  Van  Braam, 


184  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

with  no  great  ease,  let  me  hear  what,  he 
declared,  was  set  down.  Unhappily,  he 
translated  the  words  which  twice  made  me 
agree  to  be  taken  as  the  assassin  of  De  Vil- 
liers's  brother,  Jumonville,  so  as  to  read 
that  the  French  had  come  to  revenge  the 
death  of  that  gentleman,  and  understanding 
it,  with  Stephen  and  Mackay,  to  mean  this 
and  no  more,  I  signed  the  paper  and  thus 
innocently  subjected  myself  to  a  foul  cal 
umny. 

At  dawn  we  moved  out  with  one  swivel 
and  drums  beating  and  colours  flying.  This 
was  on  July  4.  I  was  reminded  of  it  when, 
on  July  9,  1776,  I  paraded  the  army  to  an 
nounce  that  on  July  4  the  Congress  had 
declared  that  we  were  no  longer  colonies 
but  free  and  independent  States.  Then  I 
remembered  the  humiliation  of  the  morn 
ing  when  we  filed  away  before  those  who 
were  to  become  our  friends  and  allies. 

I  bade  good-by  to  Van  Braam  and  Stobo, 
and  we  began  our  homeward  march,  all  on 
foot,  because  of  our  horses  having  been 
taken  when  we  were  forced  to  leave  them 
outside  of  the  fort.  We  had  gone  scarce  a 
mile,  carrying  our  wounded  on  rude  litters, 
when,  against  all  the  terms  agreed  upon, 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  185 

the  Indians  followed  and  robbed  the  rear 
baggage,  misusing  many.  Upon  this,  show 
ing  a  bold  front,  I  drove  them  off,  and 
destroying  all  useless  baggage,  set  out 
again. 

Some  died  on  our  way,  others  fell  out 
and  were  no  more  heard  of ;  and  thus,  half 
starved  and  weary,  we  made  the  seventy 
miles  to  Wills  Creek. 

Having  conducted  my  command  to  this 
point,  where  was  all  they  required  in  the 
way  of  clothing  and  supplies,  I  rode  with 
Captain  Mackay  to  Williamsburg. 

I  felt  for  a  time  and  with  much  sharpness 
the  sense  of  defeat,  and  I  heard  later  that 
Captain  Mackay  complained  that  I  was  dull 
company  on  the  ride,  which  was  no  doubt 
true  enough,  for  I  felt  that  he  and  his  com 
mand  were  partly  to  be  blamed. 

Indeed,  I  appeared  to  myself  at  this  time 
the  most  unfortunate  of  men;  but  I  have 
often  been  led  to  observe  that  we  forget  our 
calamities  more  easily  than  the  pleasures 
of  life,  nor  on  the  occasion  here  described 
could  I  so  much  reproach  myself  as  those 
who  had  failed  to  supply  me  with  the  am 
munition  and  provisions  required  for  suc 
cess. 


186  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

Although  it  was  near  to  nine  at  night 
when  we  rode  into  Williamsburg  and  put 
up  at  the  Raleigh  Tavern,  I  went  at  once 
to  the  house  called  the  governor's  palace, 
but  much  inferiour  in  size  and  convenience 
to  the  fine  houses  of  Westover  and  Bran 
don.  The  governor  being  gone  to  supper 
elsewhere,  I  gave  the  sealed  package  con 
taining  the  capitulation,  all  in  French,  with 
the  signatures  of  De  Villiers  and  myself, 
to  the  governor's  aide. 

In  the  morning  I  called  upon  the  gov 
ernor  and  was  cordially  received.  He  said 
that  we  could  not  go  into  the  details  of 
the  capitulation  until  the  articles  of  it  were 
fairly  Englished.  This  would  require  a 
day.  He  made  rather  too  light,  I  thought, 
of  the  surrender  and  of  what  seemed  to 
me  serious;  for  to  my  mind  the  French 
were  come  to  stay. 

While  the  governor  was  assuring  me  that 
we  should  easily  drive  out  the  invaders, 
my  kinsman,  Colonel  Willis  of  the  council, 
joined  us.  He  considered  the  situation  on 
the  frontier  as  very  grave,  and  succeeded 
in  alarming  the  governor,  a  man  of  confi 
dent  and  very  sanguine  disposition.  At 
last  Colonel  Willis  turned  to  me  and  said: 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  187 

i '  George,  I  dare  venture  to  engage  that  this 
little  fire  you  have  left  blazing  will  set  the 
world  aflame." 

After  further  talk  I  left  them.  I  had 
been  before  this  in  the  capital  of  the  colony, 
but  always  for  a  brief  visit.  Now,  having 
time,  I  walked  down  the  broad  Duke  of 
Gloucester  street,  and  saw  the  famous  Wil 
liam  and  Mary  College,  and  in  front  of  it 
the  statue  of  Lord  Botetour.  There  were 
many  fine  houses  and  the  handsome  parish 
church  of  Bruton,  said  to  have  been  planned 
by  the  great  Sir  Christopher  Wren. 


XXVIII 

HHHE  next  morning  about  nine  came  Mr. 
_T_  William  Fairfax  to  the  inn  and  said: 
1 1  There  is  some  trouble  about  the  capitula 
tions,  but  I  do  not  know  what.  You  are 
wanted  at  once  by  the  council." 

Upon  this  I  made  haste  to  reach  the  pal 
ace,  wondering  what  could  be  the  matter. 

In  the  council-chamber  were  several  gen 
tlemen  standing,  in  silence — Mr.  Speaker 
Robinson,  Colonel  Gary,  and  my  Lord  Fair 
fax,  as  I  was  pleased  to  see,  he  having  ar 
rived  that  morning  to  be  a  guest  of  Gov 
ernor  Dinwiddie.  There  were  also  others, 
all  standing  in  groups,  but  who  they  were 
I  fail  now  to  remember.  All  of  them  ap 
peared  to  be  serious  as  I  went  in,  and  there 
was,  of  a  sudden,  silence,  except  that  the 
governor,  a  bulky  man,  very  red  in  the  face 
and  of  choleric  temper,  was  walking  about 
cursing  in  a  most  unseemly  way.  Lord 
Fairfax  alone  received  me  pleasantly,  com- 

188 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  189 

ing  forward  to  greet  me,  but  no  one  else  did 
more  than  bow.  The  governor  came  toward 
me,  and  holding  the  capitulations  in  one 
hand,  struck  them  with  the  other  hand  and 
cried  out:  "Explain,  sir — explain  how  you, 
sir,  an  officer  of  the  King,  came  to  admit  over 
your  signature  that  you  were  an  assassin, 
and  twice,  sir,  twice.  I  consider  you  dis 
graced.  ' ' 

Lord  Fairfax  laid  a  hand  on  my  arm  to 
stay  me  and  said : 

"Your  Excellency,  it  is  not  the  manner 
among  us  to  condemn  a  man  unheard ;  nor, 
sir,  to  address  a  gentleman  as  you  have  per 
mitted  yourself  to  do." 

Colonel  Gary  said :  '  *  That,  sir,  is  also  my 
own  opinion."  For  this  I  was  grateful, 
because  on  a  former  occasion  he  had  himself 
been  lacking  in  civility. 

Then  my  cousin  Willis  came  across  the 
room  and  said  very  low:  "Keep  yourself 
quiet,  George." 

I  bowed  and  asked  to  be  shown  the  trans 
lation.  I  read  it  over  with  care,  while  no 
one  spoke.  What  had  been  said  was  cor 
rect.  For  a  moment  I  was  too  amazed  to 
speak.  As  I  looked  up,  utterly  confounded, 
Lord  Fairfax  said:  "Well,  colonel?" 


190  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

Upon  this  I  related  the  facts  of  the  case, 
and  that  Captains  Mackay  and  Stephen  had 
heard  Van  Braam  translate  the  articles,  and 
that  he  had  never  used  the  word  assassina 
tion,  but,  in  place  of  it,  death;  and  that  I 
considered  it  to  have  been  ignorance  on  his 
part,  and  no  worse. 

I  saw  also  that,  while  I  had  been  given 
to  understand  by  Van  Braam  that  for  a 
year  we  were  pledged  not  to  make  any  forts 
on  the  lands  of  the  King  of  France,  I  had 
really  agreed  that  we  were  not  for  that 
period  to  do  so  beyond  the  mountains. 

When  I  had  thus  fully  accounted  for 
my  misapprehension,  Lord  Fairfax  said 
at  once:  "Then,  gentlemen,  this  unfor 
tunate  mistake  and  this  unlucky  pledge 
were  due  to  the  governor's  council  having 
failed  to  provide  Colonel  Washington  with 
a  competent  French  interpreter. ' '  I  could 
hardly  help  smiling  at  this  transfer  of  the 
blame  to  the  governor  and  his  advisers. 
Colonel  Byrd  laughed  outright,  as  the  gov 
ernor,  with  a  great  oath,  cried  out,  "Non 
sense,  my  lord,"  and  to  me,  "You  should 
be  broke,  sir;  you  are  unfit  to  command. " 

Lord  Fairfax  said  quietly,  "Be  careful 
of  your  words,  governor."  This  stayed  his 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  191 

speech,  but  amid  entire  silence  he  stood 
shaking  with  anger,  so  that,  although  his 
wig  was  covered  with  a  net,  the  powder  fell 
over  his  scarlet  coat. 

Upon  this  I  threw  the  capitulations  on 
the  table  and,  with  much  effort  controlling 
myself,  said:  "I  have  explained  myself  to 
the  honourable  council  and  have  no  more 
to  say." 

The  governor  said:  "I  presume,  sir,  we 
must  accept  your  statement."  I  replied  at 
once,  looking  about  me :  "  If  any  gentleman 
here  doubts  it,  I—"  But  on  this  Colonel 
Gary  said:  "I  do  not.  I  think  the  matter 
cleared,  Colonel  Washington,  and  I  trust 
that  his  Excellency  will  see  that  he  has 
spoken  in  haste." 

Lord  Fairfax  and  Mr.  Robinson  also 
spoke  to  like  effect,  and  with  a  degree  of 
warmth  which  set  me  entirely  at  ease.  The 
governor,  much  vexed  to  be  thus  taken  to 
task,  said  in  a  surly  way  that  he  was  satis 
fied  and  that  Van  Braam  was  a  traitor, 
which  I  declined  to  believe,  also  adding  that 
Captain  Stephen  would  be  asked  to  see  the 
governor  and  confirm  my  statement. 

After  this,  to  my  surprise,  the  governor 
desired  my  company  at  dinner,  and  seeing 


192  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

Lord  Fairfax  nod  to  me,  I  accepted,  but 
with  no  very  good  will.  The  matter  ended 
with  a  vote  of  thanks  from  the  House  of 
Burgesses,  Van  Braam  being  left  out,  and 
also  Adjutant  Muse,  who  was  considered 
to  have  shown  cowardice.  I  was  well  done 
with  a  sorry  business. 

Indeed,  but  for  the  rain,  the  bad  light, 
and  that  I  had  no  reason  to  disbelieve  what 
Van  Braam  read  to  us,  I  should  have  looked 
over  the  paper,  where  the  word  assassin, 
being  as  much  English  as  French,  must 
have  caught  my  eye.  What  seemed  to  me 
most  strange  was  that  De  Villiers  should 
so  easily  have  let  go  a  man  whom  he  pro 
fessed  to  consider  the  murderer  of  his 
brother. 

When  we  surrendered  the  French  officers 
were  very  civil,  and  I  saw  no  evidence  of 
unusual  enmity,  but  I  do  not  think  I  met 
M.  de  Villiers. 

Van  Braam  was  very  much  abused  and 
called  a  traitor,  which  I  neither  then  nor 
later  believed  him  to  have  been.  Some  few 
in  Virginia  blamed  me,  but  since  then  I 
have  lived  through  many  worse  calumnies. 

As  each  nation  was  casting  the  blame  of 
warlike  action  on  the  other,  much  was  made 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  193 

in  France  of  the  death  of  De  Jumonville 
and  the  surrender  of  Fort  Necessity. 

I  was  able  long  afterwards  to  see  the  ac 
count  of  this  capitulation  at  Fort  Neces 
sity  as  it  was  given  by  the  French  com 
mander,  M.  de  Villiers.  It  was  quite  false, 
but  he  could  not  have  known  all  the  facts 
as  to  De  Jumonville 's  conduct  nor  how  the 
Dutchman  Van  Braam— as  I  believe,  with 
out  intention —misled  me.  That  he  was  not 
bribed  to  do  so  is  shown  by  the  fact  that, 
being  held  as  a  hostage,  he  was  long  kept  in 
jail  in  Quebec. 

It  is  to  be  remarked  as  worthy  of  note 
that  only  a  month  ago  I  should  have  heard 
news  of  this  old  soldier  of  fortune.  A  let 
ter  came  to  me  at  Mount  Vernon  in  which 
Van  Braam  related  his  wanderings  and  how 
at  last  he  had  settled  down  in  France,  as  it 
would  seem,  in  a  prosperous  way.  He  was 
very  flattering  to  his  old  pupil,  and,  for  my 
part,  I  wish  him  good  luck  and  a  better 
knowledge  of  the  French  tongue  than  he 
had  when  we  starved  together  at  the  Great 
Meadows. 

I  am  also  reminded  as  I  write  that  Lieu 
tenant-Colonel  Wynne  asked  leave  during 
the  siege  of  Yorktown  to  present  to  me  a 

13 


194  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

young  French  nobleman,  an  officer  of  the 
regiment  Auvergne,  whose  name  now  es 
capes  me.  This  gentleman's  father  had 
served  in  Canada  under  Marquis  Montcalm, 
and  before  that  on  the  frontier.  The  con 
versation  fell  upon  my  early  service  on  the 
Ohio.  To  my  great  astonishment,  the 
young  gentleman  told  me  that  in  1759  a 
French  writer,  called,  if  I  remember, 
Thomas,  published  a  long  piece  in  verse 
about  this  unfortunate  De  Jumonville  in 
America,  and  how  his  murder  was  avenged. 
I  never  supposed  any  one  would  write 
poetry  concerning  me,  nor  do  I  believe  it 
will  ever  happen  again. 


XXIX 

I  FIND  my  diaries  insufficient  as  to  the 
events  which  preceded  the  battle  on  the 
Monongahela,  where,  in  Braddock's  rout, 
I  lost  almost  all  my  papers,  with  my  plans 
and  maps,  chiefly  copies  of  those  I  had 
given  the  general.  This  I  now  regret  more 
than  I  did  at  the  time  when  my  memory 
served  me  better.  Finding,  as  I  have 
noted  before,  that  to  write  of  events  recalls 
particulars,  I  shall  endeavour  thus  to  re 
vive  my  personal  remembrances,  but  not 
to  record  at  length  the  entire  history  of  the 
defeat  of  General  Braddock. 

I  do  not  suppose  that  any  land  was  ever 
worse  governed  than  Virginia  was  under 
Dinwiddie,  and  as  to  military  affairs  worst 
of  all,  but  not  worse  than  other  colonies. 
The  governors  were  ignorant  of  warfare 
and  expected  too  much  from  the  half- 
trained  militia  and  their  careless  officers. 
These  conditions  may  have  seemed  to  jus- 

195 


196  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

tify  the  King's  order  that  all  officers  holding 
militia  appointments  should  be  outranked 
by  all  royal  commissions,  and  even  by  the 
King's  officers  on  half -pay.  This  was  bad 
enough,  but  there  were  also  Independent 
companies  raised  in  time  of  need ;  and  their 
officers,  being  directly  commissioned  by  the 
governors  acting  for  the  King,  insisted  on 
their  right  to  outrank  gentlemen  of  the  mili 
tia,  and  led  the  men  in  their  commands  to 
disobey  such  officers  and  to  consider  them 
selves  of  a  class  superiour  to  the  militia.  I 
had  already  had  so  sad  an  experience  of  the 
difficulties  which  arose  out  of  these  condi 
tions  that  I  was  unwilling  to  submit  to  Gov 
ernor  Dinwiddie's  plan  of  making  all  the 
militia  Independent  companies  and  with 
only  captains  in  command.  The  object  to 
be  attained  by  this  awkward  expedient  was 
to  put  a  stop  to  the  constant  disputes  as  to 
precedency  and  command.  As  this  would 
reduce  me  from  colonel  to  captain,  I  made 
it  clear  to  the  governor  that  it  was  not,  in 
my  opinion,  a  step  to  be  advised,  but  I 
would  consider  of  it,  which,  indeed,  took  me 
no  long  time. 

In  November  I  resigned  my  commission, 
and  before  it  was  accepted  went  to  Alexan- 


THE   YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  197 

dria,  where  my  regiment  then  lay.  I  asked 
the  officers  to  meet  me  and  explained  the 
cause  of  my  being  forced  to  resign.  I  was 
surprised  to  find  that  my  resolution,  which 
all  admitted  to  be  reasonable,  met  with  the 
most  flattering  opposition.  Indeed,  I  re 
ceived  soon  after  a  letter  from  these  gentle 
men  in  which,  with  much  more,  they  said: 

We,  your  obedient  and  affectionate  officers, 
beg  leave  to  express  our  great  concern  at  the 
marked  disagreeable  news  we  have  received  of 
your  determination  to  resign  the  command  of 
the  corps.  Your  steady  adherence  to  impartial 
justice,  your  quick  discernment  and  invariable 
regard  to  merit,  enlivened  our  natural  emula 
tion  to  excel. 

As  this  letter  lies  before  me  and  I  think 
of  the  emotion  it  caused  me,  I  still  like  to 
remember  that  at  the  close  they  spoke  of 
me  as  "one  who  taught  them  to  despise 
danger  and  to  think  lightly  of  toil  and  hard 
ships  while  led  by  a  man  they  knew  and 
loved. " 

I  have  been  spoken  of  as  wanting  in  sensi 
bility.  If  it  had  been  said  I  lacked  means 
to  show  what  I  feel,  that  were  to  put  the 


198  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

matter  more  correctly.  Even  now  the  recol 
lection  of  tlie  praise  thus  given  moves  me 
deeply,  and  recalls  the  memory  of  iny  fare 
well  to  those  who  served  with  me  in  the 
War  of  Independency.  I  was  but  twenty- 
three  when  I  left  the  colonial  service. 

I  did  so  with  much  reluctance,  for  my 
desire  was  not  to  leave  the  military  line,  as 
my  inclinations  were  still  strongly  bent  to 
arms,  and  of  this  I  assured  Colonel  Fitz- 
hugh  very  plainly  when  he  would  have  had 
me  submit  to  return  to  service  in  the  in- 
feriour  grade  of  captain.  I  preferred  my 
farm  to  submitting  to  this  degradation. 

Among  the  minor  matters  which,  by  de 
grees,  discontented  even  the  most  loyal  of 
the  upper  class  of  Virginia  gentlemen, 
none  was  more  ill  borne  than  the  imperti 
nence  and  insults  to  which  this  order  of  the 
King  gave  rise. 

Having  thus,  with  much  regret,  resigned 
my  commission,  I  retired  to  private  life  at 
Mount  Vernon  and  to  the  care  of  my  neg 
lected  plantations. 

As  we  had  left  two  hostages,  Van  Braam 
and  Stobo,  in  the  hands  of  the  French  after 
my  defeat  at  the  Meadows,  I  was  anxious 
that  La  Force  and  the  French  officers  we 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  199 

held  should  be  treated  with  decency  and  ex 
changed  for  my  two  captains. 

In  spite  of  my  earnest  remonstrances, 
Drouillon  and  two  cadets  were  alone  of 
fered  for  exchange,  and  La  Force  held  in 
prison,  which,  of  course,  the  French  re 
fused  to  consider.  My  wishes  were  disre 
garded  in  this  matter  in  which  I  considered 
my  honour  was  involved,  and  I  was  treated 
with  the  indifference  the  governor  so  often 
showed  to  the  advice  of  colonial  gentlemen 
of  consideration.  I  was  deeply  mortified, 
and  La  Force  was  at  least  two  years  in 
jail,  nor  do  I  know  what  became  of  him. 
In  retaliation,  Van  Braam  and  Stobo  were 
long  detained  in  prison  by  the  French  at 
Quebec,  but  finally  got  away,  I  do  not  know 
how.  Captain  Stobo,  a  Scotchman,  I  be 
lieve,  was  a  sober,  brave,  and  sensible  man. 
That  he  was  ingenious  and  little  subject  to 
fear  appears  from  the  fact  that,  while  im 
prisoned  at  Fort  Duquesne,  he  contrived  a 
plan  of  the  fort,  and  also  to  send  it  to  the 
governor  by  an  Indian.  Had  he  been  de 
tected  it  must  have  cost  his  life. 

After  the  fall  of  Quebec  in  1759, 1  was  in 
formed  by  an  officer  that  Captain  Stobo 
made  his  escape  before  that  event,  and  had 


200  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

been  able  to  join  his  Majesty's  troops,  and 
finally  had  guided  General  Wolfe  on  the 
path  by  which  he  succeeded  to  occupy  the 
Plains  of  Abraham.  I  do  not  know  what 
truth  there  was  in  the  story. 

While  time  ran  on  and  I  was  busy  with 
the  innocent  pursuits  of  agriculture,  Eng 
land  and  France  were  preparing  for  serious 
warfare,  and  as  I  heard  of  the  efforts  to  be 
made  to  recover  the  Ohio  and  the  forts  at 
the  North,  I  became  troubled  that  I  was 
to  have  no  share  in  the  business.  Sir  John 
St.  Glair  had  come  out  in  this  year  (1755) 
as  deputy  quartermaster-general,  and  was 
at  once  much  disgusted  at  colonial  ineffi 
ciency,  and  expressed  himself  with  such 
freedom  as  gave  great  offence.  Five  weeks 
later,  in  February,  I  believe,  General  Brad- 
dock  reached  Williamsburg,  where  I  then 
chanced  to  be  on  business  concerning  the 
purchase  of  bills  on  London.  On  this  occa 
sion  I  once  more  appealed  to  the  authori 
ties  concerning  Stobo  and  Van  Braam;  but 
although  I  spent  some  time  in  efforts  to 
persuade  Governor  Dinwiddie  that  to  fur 
ther  hold  La  Force  was  to  prevent  the 
release  of  two  brave  and  innocent  men, 
he  persistently  refused.  Upon  this  I  went 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  201 

away,  declining  to  discuss  other  matters  on 
which  he  would  have  had  my  opinion. 

While  at  Williamsburg,  Colonel  Peyton 
invited  me  to  visit  Sir  John  St.  Clair,  to 
whom  I  was  able  to  express  my  regret  that 
the  conditions  of  the  King's  late  order  as 
to  rank  must  deprive  me  and  other  colonial 
gentlemen  of  the  pleasure  of  serving.  Sir 
John  said  that  he  was  surprised  to  en 
counter  so  much  sensitiveness  among  us. 
To  this  I  made  no  reply,  but  Colonel  Byrd, 
who  was  present,  said  if  Sir  John  would  in 
his  mind  reverse  our  positions  he  would  find 
the  matter  to  explain  itself.  Sir  John  said 
that  he  could  not  imagine  himself  a  pro 
vincial  captain  of  border  farm-hands. 

Upon  this  Colonel  Byrd  rose  and  said 
there  was  also  something  which  he  could 
not  imagine  Sir  John  to  be.  Seeing  a  quar 
rel  close  at  hand,  a  thing  very  undesirable 
when  already  we  were  on  edge  owing  to 
the  affectation  of  superiority  on  the  part 
of  some  of  Sir  John's  aides,  I  was  fortu 
nate  enough  to  say  that  Colonel  Byrd  no 
doubt  misunderstood  Sir  John,  and  that  I 
never  had  been  able  to  put  myself  in  an 
other  man's  place.  Sir  John,  who  had 
spoken  hastily,  was  also  of  no  mind  to  pro- 


202  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

voke  a  gentleman  of  Colonel  Byrd's  influ 
ence,  and  said  at  once  that  he  had  no 
intention  to  offend,  and  thus  the  matter 
ended. 

It  was,  however,  this  kind  of  thing  which 
made  so  much  bad  blood  in  the  colonies 
and  was  so  deeply  resented  by  men  of  all 
classes. 

In  the  afternoon  I  met  Colonel  Byrd, 
who  said  I  had  spoiled  a  good  quarrel  and 
that  he  considered  it  would  be  necessary 
to  teach  some  of  the  officers  a  lesson  in 
manners.  I  said  I  hoped  that  at  this  crisis 
it  might  be  avoided.  I  had  quite  forgot 
this  incident,  and  am  agreeably  surprised, 
now  that  my  memory  is  failing,  at  recov 
ering  by  attention  so  many  things  which 
seemed  lost. 

On  the  following  morning  Sir  John  called 
upon  me  and  asked  would  I  dine  with  him 
that  day,  to  meet  General  Braddock,  whom, 
on  his  arrival,  I  had  welcomed  in  a  letter 
expressing  my  regret  at  being  out  of  the 
service. 

I  was  glad  to  meet  the  new  commander, 
and  at  Sir  John's  request  named  several 
gentlemen  who  should  have  the  same  hon 
our,  and  who  might  be  of  great  use  in  the 


THE  YOUTH   OF  WASHINGTON  203 

campaign.  On  this  occasion  there  was  less 
heavy  drinking  than  usual,  and  I  was  very 
agreeably  entertained  and  much  questioned 
as  to  the  border.  I  promised  to  send 
my  maps  to  the  general,  who,  upon  my 
taking  leave,  hoped  some  way  might  be 
found  to  secure  my  services  in  the  com 
ing  campaign. 

Indeed,  I  was  more  eager  than  the  gen 
eral,  and,  as  occasion  served,  I  was  still 
more  open  with  some  of  the  younger  mem 
bers  of  General  Braddock's  family  concern 
ing  my  continued  desire  to  follow  the  mili 
tary  line. 

I  rode  homeward  a  day  or  two  later, 
taking  Fredericksburg  on  the  way,  that  I 
might  see  my  mother.  I  found  her  in  the 
garden  of  her  house,  engaged  in  putting 
some  plants  in  the  ground. 

She  said  she  was  pleased  to  see  me,  but 
did  hardly  look  up  from  her  work  and  went 
on  talking  of  the  family.  I  was  of  no  mind 
to  stop  her,  and,  indeed,  it  was  always  best 
to  let  her  have  her  say;  nor  did  I  now  in 
terrupt  her,  which  out  of  respect  I  never 
inclined  to  do. 

My  sister  Betty  Lewis,  having  more  de 
sire  to  talk  than  I  ever  had,  could  never 


204  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

hear  my  mother  out,  and  this  I  did  not  ap 
prove,  nor  did  it  do  any  good. 

While  I  was  listening  came  a  servant 
with  a  letter  inclosed  in  a  cover  with  a 
flying  seal  of  Captain  Orme's  arms.  The 
letter  within  carried  the  royal  arms  and 
"  On  his  Majesty's  service  with  speed, " 
wrote  large.  It  appeared  that  when  I  had 
gone,  the  general's  aide,  Captain  Orme,  re 
quested  Colonel  Peyton  to  forward  to  me 
this  communication,  and  accordingly  he  had 
sent  it  after  me  as  desired.  I  excused  my 
self  and  read  it  with  pleasure. 

My  mother,  being  curious  as  to  small 
things,  and  as  to  large  ones  too  often  in 
different,  asked  me  what  it  was,  and  was 
eager  to  know  why  it  bore  the  King's  arms. 
I  saw  no  better  way  than  to  let  her  read  it. 

She  gave  it  back  to  me,  saying,  "  I  sup 
pose  my  opinions  about  this  business  of 
war  are  never  to  be  regarded, ' '  and  more  be 
sides  than  I  desire  to  recall.  I  replied  that 
there  was  only  one  answer  a  man  of  hon 
our  and  a  loyal  subject  of  the  King  could 
make,  and  that  I  should  at  once  accept  if 
time  were  given  me  to  set  in  order  my  af 
fairs;  and  so,  with  this,  after  much  advice 
on  her  part  that  my  duty  lay  at  home  and 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  205 

on  my  plantation,  I  got  away,  avoiding  to 
say  more,  my  mind  being  fully  made  up. 
I  find  the  letter  now  among  my  papers,  and 
reading  it  in  my  old  age,  renew  the  memory 
of  the  satisfaction  it  gave  me  when  young. 

Witiiamsburg,  March  2,  1755. 
SIR:  The  General,  having  been  informed  by 
friends  that  you  expressed  some  desire  to  make 
the  campaign,  but  that  you  declined  it  upon 
some  disagreeableness  that  you  thought  might 
arise  from  the  regulations  of  command,  has  or 
dered  me  to  acquaint  you  that  he  will  be  very 
glad  of  your  company  in  his  family,  by  which 
all  inconveniences  of  that  kind  will  be  obvi 
ated. 

I  shall  think  myself  very  happy  to  form  an 
acquaintance  with  a  person  so  universally 
esteemed,  and  shall  use  every  opportunity  of 
assuring  you  how  much  I  am 

Your  obedient  servant, 

Robert  Orme, 
Aide-de-camp. 

I  have  no  doubt  that  Colonel  Peyton  was 
the  gentleman  who,  knowing  my  wishes, 
had  suggested  my  appointment.  I  was  con 
sidered  by  some  to  have  been  imprudent  at 
Fort  Necessity,  and  the  governor,  because 


206  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

of  the  freedom  of  speech  I  used  with  him 
in  the  matter  of  Stobo  and  La  Force,  had 
for  me  no  great  regard,  and  was  very  un 
likely  to  have  favoured  me  with  the  general. 

Before  leaving  Williamsburg,  Mr.  C , 

a  cousin  of  Colonel  Peyton,  visited  me  and 
said  he  had  been  well  advised  to  seek  my 
friendship  in  a  letter  from  the  colonel, 
which  he  thought  might  please  me  and 
which  I  was  free  to  read.  As  to  my  ap 
pearance,  wit,  and  judgment,  the  letter 
spoke  in  the  most  agreeable  language,  and 
added  that  I  was  destined  to  make  no 
inconsiderable  figure  in  our  country.  I 
confess  to  having  felt,  as  I  read  it,  both 
pleasure  and  doubt. 


XXX 

I  HAD  thus  engaged  as  a  volunteer,  much 
against  the  wishes  of  my  mother,  who, 
as  she  said,  saw  no  good  in  war  and  en 
treated  me  not  again  to  expose  myself  to 
peril  in  the  wilderness.  If  the  French  had 
been  of  her  opinion  as  to  war,  I  might  have 
stayed  at  home.  We  had  an  unpleasant 
meeting,  or  rather  parting,  for  she  did  little 
else  but  lament ;  but  what  was  there  I  could 
do  ?  I  left  her  in  tears. 

I  have  no  intention  to  record  here  the 
full  history  of  this  expedition,  but  rather  to 
revive  for  my  own  interest  what  I,  person 
ally,  saw,  and  what  is  nowhere  else  fully 
set  down. 

My  appointment  gave  satisfaction  to 
many  friends,  who  felt  more  deeply  than  I 
myself  that  in  the  matter  of  commissions 
and  as  to  the  Villiers  affair— for  that  was 
soon  noised  about— I  had  been  ill  treated 
by  the  governor.  The  favourable  senti- 

207 


208  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

merits  thus  expressed  could  not,  under  the 
circumstances,  be  other  than  pleasing  to  a 
mind  which  had  always  walked  a  straight 
line  and  endeavoured,  as  far  as  human 
frankness  and  strong  passions  would  allow, 
to  discharge  the  relative  duties  to  his  Maker 
and  to  his  fellow-countrymen  without  by 
indirect  means  seeking  popularity. 

As  I  pause  here  before  making  the  effort 
to  recall  some  of  the  incidents  of  the  dis 
astrous  events  in  which  I  was  to  have  a 
share,  I  remember  with  pleasure  the  friends 
who  felt  that  my  honourable  invitation  from 
a  veteran  general  was  a  final  answer  to  the 
censures  of  the  King's  governor. 

Nor,  in  looking  back  over  the  greater 
war  and  my  life  in  office,  have  I  had  reason 
to  complain  of  want  of  affection  from  those 
whose  esteem  I  desired  to  retain.  Many 
times  in  my  life  I  have,  however,  had  just 
cause  to  complain  of  things  said  of  me  by 
those  who  possessed  my  regard,  but  I  have 
in  all  such  cases  felt  it  better  not  to  sacri 
fice  a  friendship  on  account  of  ill  temper 
or  the  indiscretion  of  the  hour,  and  am 
made  happy  in  the  belief  that  I  have  thus 
been  able  to  keep  what  I  would  not  willingly 
have  lost.  Where  men  have  been  needed  in 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  209 

the  service  or  in  office,  I  have  been  still  more 
desirous  of  forgiving  words  or  actions 
which  affected  me  alone,  but  which  did  not 
in  the  end  destroy  their  usefulness.  Nor 
have  I  myself  been  without  need  to  be  thus 
considered,  for  at  times  I  am  by  nature  ir 
ritable  and  short  of  temper.  Lawrence 
once  said  to  me  that  he  found  it  more  easy 
to  forgive  his  enemies  than  his  friends ;  but 
this  I  did  not  clearly  see,  and,  after  all,  if  a 
man  is  resolved  to  keep  himself  from  think 
ing  of  what  is  said  against  him,  the  mem 
ory  of  it  soon  becomes  dulled  and  there  is 
less  need  of  forgiveness. 

Among  the  many  evidences  of  esteem  I 
had  before  the  Braddock  affair  was  a  letter 
from  Captain  Peyronney,  now  recovered 
of  his  wound,  but  to  die  bravely  on  the 
Monongahela.  He  must  have  heard  that 
I  had  been  ill  spoken  of  by  Major  Muse  and 
perhaps  by  others.  He  wrote  very  odd 
English,  but  I  could  hardly  find  fault  with 
his  meaning. 

SIR:  I  Shan't  make  Bold  to  Describe  the  pro 
ceedings  of  the  House  [of  Burgesses],  which  no 
doute  you  have  had  already  Some  hint  of.  I 
only  will  make  use  of  these  three  expressions: 

14 


210  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

furtim  venerunt;  invane  Sederunt;  and  pertur- 
bate  Redierunt. 

But  all  that  is  matere  of  indifference  to  the 
wirginia  Regiment  Collo.  Washington  will  still 
Remain  att  the  head  of  it,  and  I  spect  with  more 
esplendor  than  ever;  for  (as  I  hope)  notwith 
standing  we  will  Be  on  the  British  stabichment, 
we  shall  be  augmented  to  Six  houndred  and  by 
those  means  entitle  you  to  the  Name  not  only  of 
protector  of  your  Contry  But  to  that  of  the 
flower  of  the  wirginians,  By  the  powers  you  '11 
have  in  your  hands  to  prove  it  So. 

Many  enquired  to  me  about  Muses  Braveries ; 
poor  Body  I  h'd  pity  him  ha'nt  he  had  the  weak 
ness  to  Confes  his  coardies  him  self,  and  the  im 
pudence  to  taxe  all  the  reste  of  the  oficiers  with- 
oud  exception  of  the  same  imperfection,  for  he 
said  to  many  of  the  Consulars  and  Burgeses  that 
he  was  Bad  But  th'  the  reste  was  as  Bad  as  he :— 

To  speak  francly  had  I  been  in  town  at  that 
time  I  cou'nt  help'd  to  make  use  of  my  horse's 
wheap  for  to  vindicate  the  injury  of  that  villain. 

he  Contrived  his  Business  so  that  several  ask 
me  if  it  was  true  that  he  had  challeng'd  you  to 
fight :  my  answer  was  no  other  But  that  he  should 
rather  chuse  to  go  to  hell  thand  doing  of  it,  for 
had  he  had  such  thing  declar'd:  that  was  his 
Sure  Road— 

I  have  made  my  particular  Business  to  tray  if 
any  had  some  Bad  intention  against  you  here 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  211 

Below:  But  thank  God  I  meet  allowais  with  a 
goad  wish  for  you  from  evry  mouth  each  one 
entertining  such  Caracter  of  you  as  I  have  the 
honnour  to  do  my  Self  who  am  the  Most  humble 
And  Obediant  of  your  Servants 

Le  Chevalier  de  Peyronney. 


I  had  much  cause  to  feel  grateful  for 
such  friends,  and  I  may  here  add  that,  as 
concerns  Van  Braam,  I  had  his  censure  re 
versed  when  I  myself  became  a  member  of 
the  House  of  Burgesses. 

As  soon  as  possible  after  bringing  my 
affairs  into  order,  I  set  out,  determined  to 
lose  no  chance  to  perfect  my  military  educa 
tion. 

At  Fredericktown  I  met  the  general,  and 
on  May  10  was  announced  in  general  orders 
as  aide,  with  brevet  rank  of  captain.  I 
rode  thence  in  advance  to  Winchester, 
where  I  had  need  to  send  a  servant  to  bor 
row  fresh  horses  from  my  friend  Lord  Fair 
fax,  who  himself  came  later  from  Greenway 
Court  to  meet  me  and  rode  with  me  about 
one  hundred  miles  to  Wills  Creek,  near  to 
which  was  Fort  Cumberland,  so  named  for 
the  captain-general. 

On  the  last  day  of  our  ride,  as  we  rode  on 


212  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

over,  I  do  believe,  the  most  abominable 
roads  in  the  world,  I  described  to  his  lord 
ship  the  array  of  well-drilled  men,  sailors, 
artillery,  etc.,  I  had  seen  at  Alexandria, 
landed  from  Admiral  Keppel's  fleet,  and 
said,  if  I  remember,  that  it  was  a  great  ad 
vantage  to  serve  under  a  gentleman  of  Gen 
eral  Braddock's  abilities  and  experience, 
and  that  a,s  to  any  danger  from  the  enemy,  I 
considered  it  as  trifling,  for  I  believed  the 
French  would  be  obliged  to  exert  their  ut 
most  strength  to  repel  the  attacks  about  to 
be  made  on  their  forts  at  Niagara  and 
Crown  Point. 


XXXI 

AS  I  talked,  Lord  Fairfax,  who  had  seen 
JL\.  greater  armies,  heard  me  in  silence, 
and  indeed,  when  I  ceased,  remained  for  a 
time  without  making  any  comment.  Then 
he  reined  up  his  horse,  and,  handing  me 
two  letters,  said:  "I  have  kept  these  for 
your  private  reading,  George ;  I  have  them 
through  the  kindness  of  one  of  Admiral 
Keppel  's  officers. ' '  I  read  them  as  we  rode 
on,  well  in  the  rear,  to  avoid  the  annoyance 
caused  by  the  marching  of  the  Forty-eighth 
Foot,  which  beat  up  a  great  dust.  He  said : 
' '  Read  them  again  at  your  leisure. ' '  I  did 
as  was  desired,  and,  as  they  happened  to  be 
left  in  my  buckskin-coat  pocket  and  forgot, 
they  were  the  only  papers  I  chanced  to  save 
in  the  battle.  They  are  now  before  me,  and 
I  read  them  anew  with  interest.  Not  for 
many  years  have  I  seen  them. 

MY  DEAR  LORD:  I  take  this  occasion  to  write 
you.     London  is  very  gay,  and  the  clubs  and 
213 


214  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

their  wits  amazing  merry  over  the  appointment 
of  Charles  Braddock  to  command  the  force  sent 

out  to  protect  you  from  the  Indians.  Ch.  S y 

was  here  for  dinner  yesterday.  He  said  General 
B.  was  a  stranger  both  to  fear  and  common  sense, 
and  that  his  best  fitness  to  fight  Indians  was  that 
he  was  providentially  bald.  Lord  C.  S.  says  he 
saw  Anne  Bellamy,  the  actress,  whom  the  Gen 
eral  visited  when  on  the  point  of  leaving  London. 
She  said  Mr.  Braddock  was  melancholy,  and  de 
clared  he  was  sent  with  a  handful  of  men  to 
conquer  nations  and  to  cut  his  way  through  an 
unknown  wilderness. 

He  said:  "We  are  sent  like  sacrifices  to  the 
altar."  That  ancient  ram!  say  I.  He  told  her 
she  would  never  see  him  again. 

I  wish  you  luck  of  your  new  General.  He  is 
touchy,  punctilious,  of  a  stiff  mind,  and  has  had 
forty  years  in  the  Guards.  I  do  not  think  he  was 
eager  to  leave  Anne  Bellamy  and  the  clubs,  for 
the  man  is  a  favourite ;  but  he  has  little  money, 
and  it  will  be  at  least  agreeable  to  spend  the 
king's  guineas. 

If  you  were  a  woman  I  should  tell  you  the  new 
fashions.  The  beaux  now  carry  their  watches 
in  their  muffs,  and  the  women  are  talking,  more 

and  more,  to  what  Charles  S y  calls  undress 

uniform,  so  that  soon  Madame  Eve  will  be  the 
fashionable  maker  of  gowns!— but  I  must  not 
nourish  your  provincial  blushes.  Lord  R.  tells 
me  that  your  General  is  a  sad  brute,  for  when 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  215 

his  sister— a  pretty  thing  she  was— spent  all  her 
money  at  cards  and  hanged  herself,  the  man 
said:  "Poor  Fanny,  I  always  thought  she  would 
play  till  she  would  be  forced  to  tuck  herself  up. " 
Horace  Walpole  says,  when  she  meant  to  die, 
she  wrote  with  a  diamond  on  the  window-pane 
this  out  of  Garth's  "Dispensary": 

11  To  die  is  landing  on  some  silent  shore, 
Where  billows  never  break  nor  tempests  roar." 

But  why  should  the  woman  die  when  she  had 
a  diamond  left  to  gamble  with  ? 

However,  the  Duke  of  Cumberland  is  his  pa 
tron,  and  that  is  enough.  F x  lost  the  other 

night  at  White's,  they  say,  £1000  and— 

I  looked  up  and  said :  ' '  The  rest  does  not 
seem  to  be  of  interest  or  to  say  more  of  the 
general. ' ' 

"No,  but  always  look  at  the  postscript  of 
a  lady's  letter.  There  is  more  about  your 
general. ' ' 

It  was  true,  for  I  read : 

P.S.  I  meant  not  to  tell  you  of  Braddock's 
affair  with  Colonel  Gumley,  who  was  his  friend, 
but  I  may  as  well,  even  if  you  think  it  incred 
ible.  A  letter  is  a  fine  way  to  talk,  because  you 
can  never  see  the  blush  you  may  cause,  and  may 
fib  without  being  vexed  by  contradiction  until 
so  long  after  that  you  have  forgotten  all  about 


216  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

it.    But  what  a  pother  I  am  making  about  my 
harmless  gossip ! 

When  Braddock  quarrelled  over  cards  with 
his  friend,  and  swords  were  drawn,  Gumley 
(you  know,  Lord  Pulteney  married  his  sister) 
cried  out:  "Braddock,  you  are  a  penniless  dog. 
If  you  kill  me  you  have  no  money,  and  you  will 
have  to  run  away."  So  with  that  he  tossed  him 
his  purse.  Braddock  was  in  such  a  rage  that 
Gumley  easily  disarmed  him,  but  he  would  not 
ask  his  life. 

As  we  rode  on  I  said  it  seemed  to  me  to 
show  that  our  general  was  foolishly  obsti 
nate,  and  that  I  liked  the  other  man  better, 
but  neither  very  much. 

His  lordship  said:  "Yes,  yes;  it  is  a  wild 
and  a  silly  life.  The  woman  is  heartless, 
but  what  she  says  may  serve  to  put  you  on 
your  guard.  These  people  think  London 
the  only  part  of  the  world  worth  a  thought. 
The  other  letter  is  of  more  moment.  It  is 
from  Colonel  Conway.  I  have  inked  over 
these  names ;  they  do  not  matter.  He  is  of 
another  clay." 

London. 

MY  DEAR  LORD:  My  nephew,  Mr.  Henry 
Wilton,  carries  this  letter  to  you,  and  any  kind 
attention  you  may  feel  disposed  to  pay  him  will 
oblige  me. 


THE  YOUTH  OF   WASHINGTON  217 

I  think  the  choice  of  Braddock  unfortunate. 
He  is  a  brave,  or  rather  a  reckless,  man,  over 
confident,  arrogant,  and  sure  to  despise  his  en 
emy,  and  goes  out,  as  I  am  assured,  with  a  bad 
opinion  of  the  Colonials.  Horace  Walpole,  who 
knows,  as  we  all  do,  the  mad  life  Braddock  has 
led  in  London,  says:  "He  is  a  very  Iroquois  in 
disposition,  and  so,  I  suppose,  fit  to  fight  his 
kind."  Horace  is  making  himself  merry  over 
the  appointment,  and  the  Colonial  helping  he  is 
to  have.  But  it  is  the  fashion  here  to  laugh  at 
Colonials,  and  not  for  the  world  would  Horace 
be  out  of  the  fashion.  I  wish  the  General  may 
have  good  fortune,  but  I  fear  the  matching  of 
drill  and  pipe-clay  against  the  wiles  of  the 
woods;  as  sensible  would  it  be  to  set  a  fencing- 
master  with  a  rapier  to  fight  a  tiger  in  a  jungle. 
AVhen  I  consider  how  vast  is  this  increasing  num 
ber  of  English  in  a  country  where  must  be  great 
prospects  and  a  fine  sense  of  independency,  I 
wonder  how  little  they  are  regarded  here.  But 
it  is  our  way  to  despise  other  nations,  and  even 
our  own  blood  if  it  has  had  enterprise  to  cross 
the  seas.  Come  back  and  help  us  to  learn  better. 
Always  your  Lordship's 

Ob'dt  humleservt. 

Henry  Conway. 

His  lordship  looked  at  me  as  I  put  away 
the  letters.    I  said : l '  That  seems  to  me  good 


218  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

sense ;  but  about  the  general,  I  cannot  credit 
it." 

"You  will  judge  for  yourself, "  lie  said, 
' '  if  this  be  the  man  to  send  into  the  wilder 
ness.  Keep  the  letters,  but  do  not  lose 
them ;  you  may  return  them  later. ' '  Which 
I  should  have  done,  only  that  the  rout  on 
the  Monongahela  put  it  out  of  my  mind. 


XXXII 

IT  was  about  noon  when,  as  I  have  said, 
being  in  the  rear  of  the  Forty-eighth 
Foot,  we  heard  a  noise  behind  us.  We  drew 
up  at  the  side  within  the  wood  to  see  what 
was  coming. 

Amid  a  great  dust  came  General  Brad- 
dock,  in  a  fine  red  chariot  bought  of  Gov 
ernor  Sharpe,  with  an  escort  of  light  horse, 
all  in  great  haste,  and  bumping  over  the 
worst  road  possible.  Presently  they  flew 
by  the  troops,  who  saluted,  the  drums  beat 
ing  the  Grenadier's  March,  a  tune  I  was  to 
hear  again. 

"  If  I  were  the  general, ' '  I  said,  *  *  I  should 
have  preferred  a  horse  to  a  coach. ' ' 

1  '  Not  if  you  were  he, ' '  said  his  lordship. 

"But  the  man  is  not  a  fool,"  I  ventured 
to  say.  i '  He  seemed  to  me  not  to  want  for 
intelligence. ' ' 

"An  intelligent  fool,  George,  is  the  worst 
fool.  His  intelligence  feeds  his  folly." 

219 


220  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

This,  like  much  else  that  his  lordship  said 
to  me,  was  not  so  plain  as  it  would  be  now, 
and,  accordingly,  I  made  no  reply. 

After  being  silent  for  a  time,  his  lordship 
went  on  to  say  that  I  should  do  well  to  talk 
little,  and  quietly  to  observe  things  for  my 
self ;  that  he  himself  knew  General  Brad- 
dock  to  be  a  spendthrift,  obstinate  as  a  pig, 
and  very  self-confident;  and,  finally,  that  I 
knew  what  a  lot  of  drilled  regulars  would 
be  worth  in  the  woods.  He  feared  also  that 
the  officers  were  quite  unfit  for  the  service. 

As  it  was  the  way  of  his  lordship  to  mock 
at  most  things,  it  did  not  affect  me  as  much 
as  what  I  saw  and  heard  later,  for,  unfor 
tunately,  he  was  not  alone  in  his  opinion 
concerning  the  general. 

By  and  by,  the  general  having  preceded 
us  by  an  hour,  we  heard  the  salute  of  sev 
enteen  guns,  fired  as  he  entered  the  camp. 

We  came  in  sight  of  the  tents  about  Wills 
Creek  early  in  the  afternoon,  and  were 
walking  our  horses,  very  tired,  man  and 
beast,  when  a  gentleman  came  towards  us. 
He  was  mounted  on  a  rather  uneasy  animal, 
and  I  saw,  as  he  met  us  and  we  bowed,  that 
his  girth  was  loose  and  he  in  danger  of  a 
fall.  I  dismounted  and,  with  an  apology, 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  221 

set  it  right.  He  thanked  me  and  got  off 
his  horse,  saying,  as  was  plain  to  see,  that 
he  was  no  horseman  and  would  walk,  pre 
ferring  two  certain  legs  to  four  uncertain 
ones.  On  this  his  lordship  also  dismounted, 
and,  our  servants  taking  the  horses,  we 
walked  on  together.  But  first  his  lordship 
said:  "I  am  Lord  Fairfax,  and  this  is 
my  friend,  Colonel  George  Washington. 
May  we  have  the  honour  to  know  your 
name ! ' ' 

He  replied,  "I  am  Benjamin  Franklin," 
and  asked  if  this  were  Colonel  Washington 
who  had  been  in  command  in  the  Jumon- 
ville  affair.  I  said  I  had  had  that  good 
fortune,  and  after  this  he  turned  to  his  lord 
ship,  and,  they  conversing,  I  was  able  to  ob 
serve  the  looks  and  ways  of  Mr.  Franklin, 
who  was  now  the  Postmaster-General  and 
known  throughout  the  colonies  as  a  learned 
man,  and  in  affairs  very  competent.  I  was 
to  be  deeply  engaged  with  him  in  the  future. 

He  was  at  this  time  a  vigorous  man  of 
forty-nine  years,  with  a  great  head  and  a 
kindly  look,  clad  very  simply  in  a  gray  suit. 
When  he  began  to  talk  I  envied  him  the 
ease  and  exactness  with  which  he  expressed 
himself,  and  the  prudence  he  showed  in 


222  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

speech,  of  which  quality  his  lordship  had 
little. 

When  at  last  the  Postmaster-General 
learned  that  I  was  to  serve  as  a  volunteer 
aide,  he  smiled  and  remarked  that  that  was 
to  manufacture  glory  for  others  and  not 
even  to  get  pay.  To  this  I  replied  that  I  con 
sidered  my  ends  were  clear  enough  to  me, 
for  that  I  was,  as  it  were,  an  apprentice, 
and  was  bent  to  acquire  experience  in  war 
under  one  who  knew  the  business.  He  said 
he  hoped  I  should  not  be  disappointed,  and 
at  this  I  saw  his  lordship  smile ;  and  so  no 
more  of  moment  passed  between  us,  for  we 
met  Captain  Orme  and  Sir  John  St.  Clair, 
and  were  soon  in  the  camp. 

Here  was  our  most  western  fort.  It  lay 
very  well,  what  there  was  of  it  finished, 
just  where  Wills  Creek  falls  into  the  Po 
tomac. 

I  went,  with  Captain  Orme  guiding  me, 
to  headquarters  at  the  fort  to  report,  pass 
ing  a  few  Indians  and  squads  of  ill-clad  Vir 
ginians  whom  an  officer,  one  Ensign  Allen, 
was  cursing  and  trying  to  drill  into  reg 
ulars. 

Everybody  was  out  of  temper  for  one 
reason  or  another.  Sir  John  could  get 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  223 

neither  waggons  nor  flour,  and  the  Indian 
squaws  were  making  mischief  because  of  the 
unchecked  license  of  the  younger  officers. 

Having  reported,  I  was  received  very 
agreeably  by  the  general  and  his  aides,  and 
he  would  have  me  to  dine  with  him  that 
day.  At  four  in  the  afternoon— for  the 
general  kept  very  fashionable  hours— we 
sat  down  in  a  great  room  in  the  fort,  and 
as  he  told  us  his  cooks  could  make  a  good 
ragout  out  of  old  boots,  we  were  served 
with  a  great  variety  of  dishes,  and  in  fine 
state. 

The  general  had  Lord  Fairfax  on  his 
right  and  Mr.  Franklin  on  his  left,  and  I 
was  fortunate  to  find  myself  beside  a  very 
courteous  gentleman  just  come  to  the  fort, 
Mr.  Richard  Peters,  secretary  of  Governor 
Morris  of  Pennsylvania.  •  I  engaged  this 
gentleman  in  talk  concerning  the  propri 
etary  government  and  the  Quakers,  and 
their  unwillingness  to  be  taxed  for  defence, 
until,  the  wine  being  freely  used  and  then 
punch  more  than  enough,  men's  tongues 
were  loosed.  There  were  toasts  to  the  King 
and  the  governor,  and  at  last  I  heard  the 
general's  voice  raised. 

He  said:  "Your  health,  Mr.  Peters,  and 


224  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

when  do  you  set  out  to  cut  that  road  for  my 
troops?  You  are  long  about  it."  Mr. 
Peters  said  quietly:  "When,  sir,  I  get 
guards  against  the  Indians  for  the  wood 
cutters  ;  until  then  it  will  not  be  possible. ' ' 

The  general  damned  Pennsylvania  and 
the  Quakers,  and  said:  "That  colony  must 
find  guards  for  their  own  wood-cutters,  and 
as  to  the  Indians,  his  Majesty 's  regulars 
laugh  at  the  idea  of  danger  from  them." 
Upon  which,  several  officers,  not  very  sober, 
cried  out,  ' '  Hear,  hear ! ' ' 

Mr.  Peters,  who  had  taken  very  little 
wine,  replied  that  they  were  not  to  be  de 
spised,  meaning  the  savages,  but  that  every 
step  of  the  march  would  be  at  risk  of  ambus 
cades. 

Then,  to  my  amazement,  General  Brad- 
dock  cried  out  that  he  despised  such  coun 
sels  and  that  the  colonials  were  like  old 
women. 

On  this  Mr.  Peters  rose,  and  one  or  two 
other  gentlemen,  and  I  saw  Mr.  Franklin 
glance  at  him.  As  he  hesitated,  I  said  so 
that  he  alone  could  hear :  ' '  Pardon  me,  Mr. 
Peters,  the  man  is  drunk,  and  you  are  en 
tirely  right."  Then  I  saw  that  his  lord 
ship  spoke  quickly  to  the  general,  who  cried 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  225 

out:  "My  apologies,  Mr.  Peters,  and  a 
glass  with  you.  We  have  had  too  many 
vinous  counsellors.  You  shall  have  your 
guards"— as  indeed  he  did,  but  not  until 
my  lord  had  been  very  urgent,  and  also  Mr. 
Franklin.  Mr.  Peters,  very  grave,  bowed 
and  sat  down.  When  shortly  his  lordship 
went  away,  I  made  my  own  excuses  and  fol 
lowed  him. 

The  next  day  I  happened  to  be  in  his  lord 
ship  's  quarters  and  Mr.  Franklin  present, 
when  General  Braddock  called  to  pay  his 
respects  to  Lord  Fairfax.  We  rose  to  go 
out,  but  his  lordship  detained  us.  The  gen 
eral  was  in  high  spirits.  He  said  to  Mr. 
Franklin :  ' i  Only  let  the  colonies  keep  their 
promise  and  all  will  be  well." 

I  confess  I  was  unprepared  for  the  con 
fidence  with  which  he  assured  Mr.  Franklin 
that  he  would  take  Duquesne  and  go  on 
to  Niagara  and  Frontenac,  and  that  the  fort 
would  be  an  affair  of  a  day  or  two. 

' '  But,  sir, ' '  said  Mr.  Franklin, ' i  you  must 
march  through  a  narrow  road  in  pathless, 
dense  forests,  and  your  line  will  be  some 
four  miles  long.  You  will,  I  hope,  take 
Duquesne,  but  you  will  be,  I  fear,  in  con 
stant  danger  of  being  cut  in  two,  for  the 

18 


226  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

French  and  Indians  are  dexterous  in  am 
buscades,  and  to  send  back  relief  quickly, 
if  attacked,  will  be  nigh  to  impossible  with 
woods  all  about  you.  As  to  the  waggons 
we  talked  of,  I  will  get  you  all  the  waggons 
you  want  out  of  Pennsylvania,  and  shall  set 
out  for  Lancaster  at  once. " 

The  general  thanked  him,  but  said  he 
must  remind  Mr.  Franklin  that  he  talked 
as  a  civilian,  and  that,  although  these  sav 
ages  might  be  formidable  to  raw  American 
militia,  they  would  make  no  impression  on 
disciplined  troops,  and  much  more  to  like 
effect. 

Mr.  Franklin  replied  quietly :  "  I  am  con 
scious,  sir,  of  the  impropriety  of  arguing 
such  matters  with  a  military  man,  but  I 
should  like  to  ask  Colonel  Washington  his 
opinion.  He  has  had  some  experience  in 
the  irregular  warfare  of  our  woods. ' ' 

His  lordship,  desirous,  as  I  learned  later, 
that  I  should  not  contradict  my  superiour, 
said:  "I  beg  to  answer  for  Mr.  Washington 
that  I  am  sure  General  Braddock  will,  as 
time  serves,  consult  such  colonial  officers  as 
have  seen  service  on  the  frontier." 

After  other  talk  the  general  rose,  and 
said  he  should  be  sure  to  take  his  lordship's 
advice. 


XXXIII 

WHEN  alone  with  us  the  Postmaster- 
General  talked  with  even  greater 
seriousness,  saying  that  in  Philadelphia,  so 
secure  were  they  of  the  success  of  the  cam 
paign,  that  a  gentleman,  a  Dr.  Bond  I  think 
it  was,  proposed  to  raise  money  for  an  illu 
mination  to  be  ready  when  the  news  of  vic 
tory  came.  Mr.  Franklin  told  us  that  he  had 
begged  him  to  take  warning  from  a  verse 
in  the  Old  Testament  as  to  before  battle  and 
after,  and  this  much  pleased  his  lordship, 
who  laughed  and  said,  "Well  put,  sir"; 
but  when  I  asked  what  the  verse  was,  they 
both  laughed  and  bade  me  read  my  Bible, 
and,  indeed,  I  am  none  the  wiser  up  to  this 
day. 

It  was  not  alone  the  general  who  was  dis 
contented.  On  arriving  at  Wills  Creek  I 
found  this  letter  from  George  Croghan,  one 
of  the  most  important  traders  on  the  fron 
tier,  and  with  a  commission  from  Penn- 

227 


228  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

sylvania  to  make  roads  and  secure  waggons 
and  Indian  allies. 

DEAR  COLONEL:  If  the  rest  are  like  Sir  John 
St.  Clair,  I  shall  be  glad  to  be  shut  of  the  busi 
ness.  He  swore  at  us  for  delay  and  said  "no 
soldier  should  handle  an  axe,  but  by  fire  and 
sword  he  would  force  the  inhabitants  to  do  the 
work ;  we  should  be  treated  as  traitors,  and  that 
when  the  General  came  he  would  give  us  ten  bad 
words  for  one  that  he  had  given."  You,  Sir, 
know  well  how  hard  it  is  to  stir  up  our  border 
folks  and  what  a  task  to  get  from  farmers  in  the 
spring  their  waggons  and  horses.  We  are  doing 
our  best.  I  have  secured  Captain  Jack— a  guide 
hard  to  beat. 

There  was  more  of  it,  and  enough  to  af 
ford  serious  thought. 

During  our  stay  I  heard  nothing  but  com 
plaints  of  our  want  of  efficiency,  and  no 
one  seemed  to  see  that  it  was  silly  to  expect 
to  find  everything  at  hand  in  a  land  as 
new  as  ours.  Captain  Orme  and  Ensign 
Allen  complained  on  one  occasion  to  Dr. 
Mercer  and  me  that  our  men  were  languid, 
spiritless,  and  unsoldier-like.  Dr.  Mercer, 
who  was  a  hot-headed  Scotchman,  said  he 
had  seen  undisciplined  Highlanders  put  to 


THE  YOUTH  OF   WASHINGTON  229 

rout  regulars  at  Prestonpans  and  Falkirk, 
and  that  in  the  woods  our  men  would  beat 
the  best  grenadiers  in  the  King's  army. 
Orme  grew  angry  and  said  Mercer  was  a 
damned  rebel ;  but  I  succeeded  in  quieting 
them,  although  I  insisted  that  Captain  Orme 
would  in  time  change  his  opinion,  as  indeed 
happened.  Mercer  was  in  a  constant  rage 
and  told  me  over  and  over  that  the  officers 
were  insolent  and  that  the  general  was  ill 
with  the  disease  called  damned  foolishness. 
I  thought  him  imprudent  and  begged  him 
to  be  careful;  but  as  he  had  served  in  '45 
with  the  Pretender,  and  come  over  here 
after  his  flight,  he  was,  on  that  account,  in 
bad  odour  with  the  regular  officers,  and,  I 
feared,  also  with  the  general,  who  had  been 
with  the  Duke  of  Cumberland  upon  the  final 
bloody  defeat  of  the  rebels  at  Culloden.  Dr. 
Mercer  had  just  cause  to  complain,  but  I 
thought  him  unwise  to  talk  so  freely.  He 
was,  nevertheless,  a  gallant  gentleman,  and 
died  a  general,  falling  gloriously  at  Prince 
ton  when  rallying  his  men. 

I  saw  Mr.  Franklin  again  but  once  before 
he  went  away.  He  was  clearly  not  a  man  al 
together  to  the  liking  of  Lord  Fairfax,  but 
why,  I  never  came  to  know.  He  seemed  to 


230  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

me  at  that  time  a  conscientious  and  intelli 
gent  person,  very  able  to  get  along  with  all 
manner  of  people.  I  must  admit  that  he 
conducted  matters  of  gravity  as  if  they 
amused  him  and  were  not  serious,  a  method 
which  never  altogether  pleased  me.  When 
I  justified  the  general's  groaning  over  his 
many  difficulties  as  to  roads  and  transport 
and  food,  he  said  that  his  difficulties  were 
of  British  making,  and  that  had  the  force 
landed  in  Philadelphia,  horses,  waggons, 
and  supplies  would  have  been  found  in 
abundance.  To  this  I  agreed,  for  I  thought 
the  plan  of  the  march  ill  chosen.  After  this 
the  doctor  amused  himself  with  the  aston 
ishment  the  Indians  would  have  when  they 
got  hold  of  the  wigs  of  the  officers— a  jest 
which  did  not  seem  to  me  agreeable.  He 
spoke  also  with  much  freedom  of  the  gen 
eral,  and  said  to  argue  with  him  was  useless 
and  was  like  striking  a  pillow  or  reasoning 
with  a  wild  animal,  who  had  only  its  own 
thoughts  and  could  not  comprehend  yours. 
I  made  no  reply,  and  he  fell  to  most  in 
genious  talk  about  the  temperature  of 
springs  and  the  ways  of  swimming.  Not 
withstanding  his  doubts,  the  great  array  of 
war  kept  me  somewhat  confident  and  cheer- 


THE  YOUTH  OF   WASHINGTON  231 

ful  until  I  heard  that  nine  hundred  men  of 
the  French  had  passed  Sandusky  on  their 
way  to  reinforce  the  French  on  the  Ohio, 
so  that  I  had  to  write  Mr.  Speaker  Robin 
son  that  I  feared  we  should  have  more  to 
do  than  merely  to  march  up  and  down  the 
hills,  as  the  general  had  said  would  be  all. 

It  was  May  19  when  the  general  arrived 
at  Fort  Cumberland,  and  June  10  before 
he  set  out  to  cross  the  mountains,  and  after, 
as  the  general  said,  more  expenditure  of 
oaths  in  a  month  than  he  had  needed  in  his 
whole  Scotch  campaign  with  the  duke,  of 
whom  the  general  liked  to  speak. 

I  spent  much  of  my  time  while  we  lay  at 
this  post  in  learning  the  methods  of  drill 
and  discipline,  and  in  aiding  to  satisfy  the 
Virginia  recruits  that  it  was  necessary  to 
imitate  the  methods  of  the  regulars,  al 
though  if  it  came  to  wood  fighting  I  believed 
the  English  officers  and  men  would  more 
need  to  learn  the  ways  of  the  rangers.  Yet 
some  who  judged  our  people  by  their  dis 
like  of  strict  drill  were  of  opinion  that  the 
lowness  and  ignorance  of  their  officers  gave 
little  hope  of  their  future  behaviour  under 
fire.  My  task  of  helping  to  train  the  men 
was  given  up  when  the  general  ordered  me 


232  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

to  go  to  Williamsburg  and  fetch  back  four 
thousand  pounds,  an  errand  not  much  to 
my  liking. 

Unfortunately,  the  detail  was  made  with 
out  my  having  the  opportunity  of  choice, 
and  proved  very  unfit,  giving  me  much  con 
cern  and  anxiety.  I  do  not  know  why  there 
was  delay  in  assembling  this  detail,  but 
eight  days  passed  after  I  got  my  order  be 
fore  I  was  given  the  men.  I  believe  they 
would  not  have  been  eight  seconds  in  dis 
persing  if  we  had  been  attacked. 

Captain  Horatio  Gates,  of  a  New  York 
Independent  company,  advised  not  to  take 
regulars,  who  would  obey  only  their  own 
officers ;  but  I  had  no  choice,  and  so  set  out 
and  was  gone  a  fortnight.  On  my  return 
I  slept  every  night  in  the  waggon,  with  my 
precious  money  about  me  and  pistols  loaded. 
The  men  were  drunken  and  disobedient  un 
til  I  promised  strappado  on  our  reaching 
camp,  and  indeed  I  was  glad  to  be  rid  of 
the  money  and  the  guard. 

I  saw  during  this  ride  and  later  that,  as 
Orme  had  told  me,  the  men  of  the  Forty- 
fourth  and  Forty-eighth  regiments  were 
drunken,  mutinous,  and  disorderly,  so  that 
it  was  not  alone  our  own  failures  to  provide 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  233 

which  made  difficult  the  task  of  our  unfor 
tunate  commander. 

I  found  the  general  much  disgusted  at 
the  delays  in  supplying  him,  and,  as  I 
thought,  most  unwise,  and  only  increased 
his  trouble  by  abuse  of  the  colonies,  for  the 
more  men  deserve  abuse  the  less  they  like  it, 
and  get  sullen  and  less  than  ever  inclined  to 
help. 

Just  before  we  set  out  from  Fort  Cum 
berland,  the  general  being  now  in  the  sad 
dle,  Lord  Fairfax  presented  me  with  a  hand 
some  pair  of  pistols,  and  said:  "I  should 
have  been  pleased  to  have  had  a  son  like 
you;  but  for  that  I  must  have  had  a  wife, 
which  is  a  calamity  I  have  been  spared.  If 
occasion  serves,  I  shall  be  glad  to  hear  from 
you." 

Lord  Fairfax  had  informed  me  that  Gen 
eral  Braddock  would  ask  my  opinion  and 
advice  as  to  the  use  to  be  made  of  Indians 
and  our  rangers.  He  did  consult  me,  but 
only,  I  believed,  because  his  lordship  had 
desired  him  to  do  so. 

I  never  succeeded  to  make  much  impres 
sion  upon  him,  and  it  was  as  the  wise  Mr. 
Franklin  had  said.  Many  Indians  joined 
us  on  the  way  with  their  squaws,  but  the 


234  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

chiefs  were  too  little  considered  or  con 
sulted.  Their  women  were  insulted  or 
worse,  and  those  that  came  to-day,  receiv 
ing  no  gifts,  were  gone  to-morrow. 

On  June  6,  Sir  John  St.  Clair  was  sent 
on  in  advance  with  some  six  hundred  chop 
pers  to  widen  and  better  my  old  road. 
After  him  came  Sir  Peter  Halket's  force. 
On  June  10,  if  I  remember  aright,  the  gen 
eral  followed  with  his  staff  and  the  rest  of 
the  army.  As  soon  as  the  march  began,  the 
lack  of  discipline  became  plain,  and  the 
officers  were  worse  than  the  men  and  alto 
gether  too  much  drunkenness. 

Captain  Croghan  said  to  me:  "I  should 
like  to  give  these  fellows  a  wood  drill  and 
upset  half  the  rum-kegs."  This  was  as  we 
led  our  horses  over  the  second  mountain. 
"Why,  sir,"  he  said,  "here  are  hundreds 
of  waggons  and  enough  gimcracks  and  non 
sense  to  fit  out  a  town,  and  all  the  officers  of 
foot  on  horseback." 

I  said  that  I  had  represented  to  the  gen 
eral  and  Colonel  Dunbar  the  risk  of  this 
long  train,  and  urged  that  we  use  our  horses 
for  packhorses  and  to  carry  only  what  we 
really  needed.  ' '  That  would  be, ' '  Captain 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  235 

Croghan  said,  "for  the  men,  blankets,  an 
axe,  a  rifle,  a  knife,  and  ammunition." 

He  went  on  to  tell  us  that  he  had  urged 
this  to  be  done  again  and  again— that  was, 
to  Captains  Orme  and  Shirley,  the  military 
secretary  of  the  commander,  for  he  had  been 
told  plainly  enough  that  he  was  himself  too 
small  a  person  to  converse  with  the  general, 
and  a  d— d  trader  he  had  been  called.  He 
was  sure  the  general  would  listen  to  no  ad 
vice  except  from  the  King's  officers.  I  had 
to  admit  that  he  listened  to  me  at  times,  and 
had  always  said  in  a  civil  way  that  he  would 
consider  of  what  I  advised,  but  got  no  fur 
ther. 


XXXIV 

came  to  me  the  day  after  at 
my  hut  (I  am  not  sure  of  this  date), 
and  with  him  was  Mr.  Gist  and  a  tall  man 
in  buckskins,  leggins,  and  moccasins.  He 
carried  a  long  rifle  and  a  scalping-knife. 

Captain  Croghan  said:  "This,  colonel,  is 
my  friend,  Captain  Jack,  of  whom  I  wrote. 
He  has  come  with  fifty  Pennsylvania  men 
to  offer  as  scouts. ' ' 

I  had  heard  often  of  this  man  and  was 
pleased  that  we  were  to  have  his  services. 
I  made  him  welcome,  bade  him  be  seated, 
and  offered  him  rum,  which  he  refused  to 
take,  saying  he  drank  no  spirits.  He  was 
very  silent  and  made  brief  answers  to  my 
questions  concerning  the  Indians  and  their 
inclinations.  When  I  would  have  gone  fur 
ther,  he  rose  and  said  his  men  were  waiting 
to  camp.  He  must  see  the  general,  and 
asked  me  to  go  with  him.  As  we  walked 
through  the  shelters  the  rangers  had  set  up, 

236 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  237 

I  saw  many  look  at  him  with  curiosity, 
which  was  not  surprising,  for  he  was  not 
less  than  six  feet  three,  but  a  gaunt,  thin 
man,  of  melancholic  aspect.  He  never  spoke 
a  word,  but  presently  we  met  a  certain 
Major  Moore,  a  rough,  hard-drinking  of 
ficer  of  the  grenadiers.  As  he  stopped  us, 
I  saw  that  he  was  under  liquor,  as  was  too 
common.  He  said,  "Whom  have  you  got 
there?  Make  a  fine  grenadier."  I  said, 
"This  is  Captain  Jack,  a  famous  Pennsyl 
vania  scout, ' '  and  so  would  have  passed  on, 
when  the  major  said  rudely  to  Captain  Jack, 
"Who  the  deuce  made  you  a  captain?" 
The  scout  tapped  his  rifle  and  said,  * '  That, ' ' 
and  walked  on,  without  saying  more  than 
his  gesture  seemed  to  imply.  I  could  not 
avoid  remarking,  "You  are  well  answered, 
major,"  for  I  have  always  had  a  liking  for 
men  who  do  not  talk  much.  I  contented  my 
self  with  saying  to  the  scout  that,  as  usual, 
the  major  was  in  liquor. 

I  sent  in  my  name  to  General  Braddock, 
and  we  were  desired  to  enter  his  tent.  Here 
I  introduced  Captain  Jack  as  an  experi 
enced  ranger  and  said  he  had  fifty  good 
scouts.  The  general  asked  me  to  be  seated, 
but  as  he  did  not  invite  the  scout  to  sit  down, 


238  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

I  remained  standing.  As  for  the  captain, 
he  said  not  so  much  as  a  word,  but  waited, 
looking  steadily  at  the  general,  who  asked 
me  a  question  concerning  the  roads,  and 
then  said  to  me,  ' '  Let  the  man  wait ;  I  will 
see  about  him  in  a  day  or  two."  Then  he 
asked  what  pay  they  wanted,  to  which  Cap 
tain  Jack  said,  ' i  No  pay,  nothing. ' ' 

I  tried  to  make  the  general  understand 
the  great  service  we  might  expect  in  the 
woods  from  such  men,  but  he  replied  im 
patiently  that  these  men  could  not  be  drilled, 
and  that  he  had  experienced  troopers  on 
whom  he  could  rely  for  any  service  he 
might  require.  He  was  going  on  to  give 
orders  as  to  where  the  men  should  camp, 
when  Captain  Jack  turned  and  went  out 
without  further  words.  The  general 
damned  him  roundly  for  an  ill-bred  cur,  and 
I  made  after  him  in  haste.  When  I  had 
overtaken  him,  he  said  very  quietly : ' '  Good- 
by,  Colonel  Washington;  when  you  have  a 
separate  command  send  for  me."  I  made 
a  vain  effort  to  induce  him  to  remain.  In 
half  an  hour  he  called  his  men  together,  and 
they  went  away  into  the  woods  Indian 
fashion,  one  after  the  other,  and  we  saw 
him  no  more.  Captain  Croghan  told  me 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  239 

that  this  man  had  had  his  whole  family 
massacred  by  the  Indians,  and  had  spent 
years  in  revenging  himself,  sometimes 
alone,  and  sometimes  with  a  party,  for  he 
was  both  esteemed  and  trusted  on  the  bor 
der-lands  of  Pennsylvania.  Both  Croghan 
and  I  were  much  disappointed. 

Amid  the  difficulties  caused  by  European 
need  of  useless  luxuries  and  by  the  absence 
in  officers  and  men  of  what  Mr.  Franklin 
called  "pliability  in  the  hands  of  new  cir 
cumstances/'  I  was  getting  useful  lessons 
and  was  made  to  see  that  when  a  com 
mander  cannot  get  what  he  wants  he  must 
make  the  most  of  what  little  he  has.  In 
deed,  the  delay  in  getting  waggons  he  could 
have  done  without  was,  in  the  end,  a  calam 
ity  to  the  general. 

The  army,  over  two  thousand  strong,  fol 
lowed  routes  over  and  through  the  Alle- 
ghanies  which  I  had  used  in  1754,  and  which 
could  easily  have  been  bettered  by  free  use 
of  trained  scouts  and  our  own  axe-men  sent 
on  ahead. 

There  was  much  sickness,  and  the  regu 
lars  suffered  in  many  ways  by  reason  of 
ignorance  and  want  of  knowing  how  bet 
ter  to  take  care  of  themselves.  They  com- 


240  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

plained  bitterly  of  the  mosquitos,  black  flies, 
and  midges,  and  took  so  kindly  to  smudges 
that  Orme  said  the  smoke  was  like  that  the 
Israelites  had,  with  less  or  no  trouble. 
There  was,  indeed,  some  reasonable  cause 
for  complaint  by  men  unused  to  the  woods. 
We  had  twice  the  worst  thunder  and  light 
ning  I  ever  saw.  Trees  were  struck,  but 
no  man,  nor  ever  is  in  the  woods.  Three 
men  died  of  the  bite  of  rattlesnakes,  but  few 
escaped  the  little  forest  bugs  called  ticks, 
which  bore  into  the  skin  and  leave  sores 
and  great  itch  for  weeks.  Our  rangers  un 
dressed  every  night  and  picked  off  these 
pests.  The  soldiers  were  too  lazy  or  did 
not  know  enough,  and  many  were  lamed 
or  ulcered  for  want  of  such  care. 

Even  before  we  reached  Little  Meadows 
certain  officers  saw  the  danger  of  our  thin 
line;  more  than  four  miles  of  it  stretched 
out  across  streams  and  marshes  in  deep 
woods.  Had  the  French  been  in  force  we 
had  certainly  been  sooner  ambushed.  Even 
the  men  became  uneasy  as  we  entered  the 
white-pine  woods  beyond  Great  Savage 
Mountain.  Here  the  deep  of  the  forest  was 
like  twilight,  and  the  trees  of  great  bigness. 
When  the  rangers  told  the  soldiers  that 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  241 

these  dark  woods  were  called  the  "  Shades 
of  Death, "— but  why  I  do  not  know,— they 
were  more  alarmed,  and  were  glad  about 
the  18th  to  be  out  of  the  forest  and  descend 
ing  the  shaggy  slopes  of  the  Meadow  Moun 
tain  to  Little  Meadows,  where  was  more 
light  and  room  to  camp. 

It  was  a  wonder  to  us  frugal  woodsmen 
how  all  this  host,  cumbered  as  it  was,  did  at 
last  get  over  the  hills  and  reach  the  Little 
Meadows,  this  being  about  June  18. 

On  the  evening  of  our  arrival  the  general 
desired  me  to  remain  after  the  other  aides 
had  received  orders  and  gone  away.  He 
then  opened  his  mind  to  me  with  great  free 
dom  about  the  tardiness  of  the  march  and 
his  desire  to  know  what  was  my  opinion 
concerning  the  matter  in  hand.  When  he 
had  made  an  end  of  speaking,  I  said  that  he 
had  more  men  than  were  needed,  but  that 
to  push  on  in  haste  was  desirable  and  to 
take  only  the  light  division,  leaving  the 
heavy  troops  and  most  of  the  baggage. 

I  begged  leave  to  add  that  Duquesne  was 
as  yet  weakly  garrisoned,  and  the  long  dry 
weather  would  keep  the  rivers  low,  and  hard 
to  navigate  by  reinforcements  from  Ve- 
nango  and  the  lake,  so  that  if  we  could  dis- 


242  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

mount  officers,  take  to  packhorses,  and  push 
on  without  encumbrance,  we  could  be  sure 
of  an  easy  victory. 

A  council  of  all  the  field-officers  was 
called  soon  after  I  left  the  tent;  but  my 
rank  not  entitling  me  to  be  present,  I  was 
pleased  to  hear  from  Captain  Orme  that 
the  general  had  stated  my  views  and  that 
a  more  rapid  march  was  decided.  I  was 
much  disappointed  to  learn  that  we  were 
still  to  be  overburdened  with  artillery  and 
waggons.  I  gave  up  one  of  my  horses  for 
a  packhorse  and  saw  it  no  more.  Out  of  two 
hundred  and  twelve  horses  allowed  to  of 
ficers,  only  twelve  were  thus  offered.  Why 
the  general  did  not  order  them  taken  I  do 
not  know. 

The  force  selected  was  in  all  about  twelve 
hundred  men  and  their  artillery;  but  in 
place  of  pushing  on  with  vigour,  they  must 
needs  stop  to  bridge  every  brook  and  level 
every  mole-hill.  In  four  days  we  marched 
only  twelve  miles. 

St.  Clair  and  Colonel  Gage  were  sent  on 
ahead  to  clear  the  way  with  four  hundred 
men,  and  the  general  followed  with  eight 
hundred.  We  still  moved  so  slowly  that 
we  were  constantlv  halted  because  of  over- 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  243 

taking  our  pioneers.  It  was  up  hill  and 
down,  where  cannon  and  waggons  had  to 
he  lowered  by  ropes.  There  were  deep 
morasses  and  constant  scares  from  outlying 
parties  of  Indians. 


XXXV 

ON  the  21st  we  entered  the  colony  of 
Penn,  and  on  the  30th  June  dropped 
down  from  the  hills  to  Stewart's  Crossing 
on  the  Youghiogheny.  Here  St.  Clair,  sent 
on  in  advance,  had  cleared  the  ground  for 
a  camp. 

We  had  been  all  of  ten  days  in  marching 
twenty-four  miles.  Day  after  day,  as 
Croghan  and  I  uneasily  hung  about  the 
flanks  and  the  rear,  we  saw  the  long  line 
of  red-coated,  cumbered  men,  sweating  in 
heavy  uniforms,  with  waggons  and  cannon, 
slowly  moving  through  the  silent  woods,  so 
full,  to  our  minds,  of  peril. 

I  had  been  ill  for  some  days,  but  at  the 
Youghiogheny  River  I  fell  worse  of  a  sud 
den  with  a  fever  and  pain  in  the  head. 
The  general  was  most  kind  and  at  last  or 
dered  me  to  remain,  leaving  me  a  guard 
and  my  dear  Dr.  Craik.  Colonel  Dunbar's 
division  had  been  left  behind,  to  his  great 
indignation,  and  was  to  follow  slowly  with 

244 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  245 

the  baggage-train.  I  was  in  the  utmost 
gloom  at  my  detention,  being  in  a  way  re 
sponsible  for  the  new  movement.  The 
chance  to  be,  by  ill  luck,  laid  up  while  a  bat 
tle  might  take  place  much  disturbed  me.  I 
wrote  my  brother  Jack  I  would  not  miss  it 
for  five  hundred  pounds. 

While  I  lay  in  bed  most  impatient,  the 
detachment  went  on,  and  soon  after  I  had 
this  letter  from  Christopher  Gist,  who  was 
acting  as  guide : 

EESPECTED  SIR:  We  are  moving  along  as  sol 
emn  as  a  box-turtle,  one  day  two  miles,  which 
any  smart  turtle  might  compass.  The  pickets 
are  doubled,  and  men  sleep  with  their  arms,  for, 
good  Lord!  if  a  branch  cracks  they  give  an 
alarm,  and  if  a  poor  devil  strays  there  is  a  scalp 
gone,  for  every  step  of  our  march  is  watched. 
Still  I  am  sure  there  are  no  big  parties  out,  for 
I  have  been  off  in  advance  and  been  within  half 
a  mile  of  the  fort,  and  came  nigh  to  losing  my 
hair,  but  with  decent  good  fortune  we  have  the 
place.  I  should  be  easier  with  a  few  hundred  of 
our  own  people  in  the  advance  and  on  our  skirts, 
but  they  are  kept  in  the  rear,  the  Lord  knows 
why. 

Captain  Orme  also  wrote  to  me  of  fre 
quent  night  alarms,  and  of  the  general's 


246  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

confidence  at  being  now  but  thirty  miles 
from  the  fort.  Here  two  days'  halt  was 
made  to  await  fresh  supplies  from  Dunbar. 

On  July  4,  being  stronger,  I  started  in 
the  rear  of  a  party  of  one  hundred  men 
just  come  up  from  Colonel  Dunbar  with 
provisions.  I  was  set  upon  going  with 
them,  but  was  too  weak  to  ride  a  horse  and 
must  needs  use  a  waggon.  As  the  road  was 
much  cut  up,  my  bones  were  almost  jolted 
through  the  small  cover  left  on  them.  On 
the  8th  I  reached  the  camp,  now  but  thirteen 
miles  from  Duquesne. 

My  journey  took  me  through  the  Great 
Meadows,  near  where  was  my  little  fight, 
and  past  the  ruined  palisadoes  of  Fort  Ne 
cessity.  I  saw  them  with  great  interest, 
and  felt  some  sense  of  gratification  that  now 
I  might  pay  up  my  score  against  those  who 
had  both  humbled  and  insulted  my  King 
and  myself. 

Once,  as  my  waggon  approached  the  rear 
guard,  we  came  upon  a  dozen  or  more  strag 
glers.  Some  had  fallen  out  tired,  and  some 
were  loitering  to  gather  berries.  I  cried  out 
to  warn  them  of  the  danger  they  were  in, 
and,  in  fact,  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour  later 
they  ran  after  us,  crying, ' '  Indians ! ' '  They 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  247 

may  have  had  cause,  but  all  the  strange 
noises  of  the  woods  alarmed  them,  and  this 
time  the  rangers  said  it  was  a  wildcat. 

The  sound  of  distant  martial  music  from 
the  camps  which  we  were  come  near  to 
seemed  to  revive  m}^  mind,  and  I  was  able 
to  cast  off  the  feeling  of  gloom  and  con 
verse  with  Captain  Shirley,  the  military  sec 
retary,  who  had  ridden  back  with  an  order. 
He  said  to  me  that  we  had  been  a  month 
in  marching  less  than  a  hundred  miles. 
Captain  Morris,  who  was  with  him,  said  it 
was  true,  but  all  was  well  that  ended  well, 
and  we  had  the  fort  at  our  mercy  and  would 
attack  next  day.  I  advised  my  friends,  as 
I  had  before  done,  that  it  would  be  well  if 
the  officers  could  be  dressed  in  wood  colours, 
like  our  scouts ;  but  Captain  Shirley  replied 
that  the  general  would  never  allow  of  it, 
and,  indeed,  when  next  day  I  got  rid  of  my 
fire-red  coat  and  put  on  a  fringed  buckskin 
shirt,  I  was  no  little  jeered  at,  and  Colonel 
Gage  made  some  comments,  which,  I  trust, 
he  came  later  to  regret.  I  am  of  opinion 
that  the  absence  of  a  gaudy  red  coat  saved 
me  from  many  balls  and  enabled  me  to  be  of 
use  when  the  other  aides  were  wounded.  I 
was  much  of  Mr.  Franklin's  opinion  that  if 


248  THE  YOUTH  OF   WASHINGTON 

fine  feathers  make  fine  birds,  they  also  make 
them  an  easier  prey  for  the  fowler. 

Indeed,  the  learned  Postmaster-General 
made  himself  very  merry  over  the  queues 
and  the  stiff  stocks  and  the  bright  scarlet 
uniforms.  He  thought  the  officers  only 
needed  corsets,  which  I  was  told  they  did 
often  use  at  home. 

When,  in  the  afternoon,  very  tired  and 
weak,  I  reached  the  tent  made  ready  for  me 
by  the  kindness  of  my  brother  aides,  I  lay 
down  to  rest,  and,  as  Captain  Morris  was 
now  on  duty,  I  asked  him  to  tell  me  what 
was  to  be  our  mode  of  approach  to  the  fort. 
I  was  able  easily  to  recall  the  general  fea 
tures  of  the  country,  for  the  camp  was  now 
set  about  twelve  miles  from  Frazier's 
former  trading-station,  where  I  stopped  on 
my  return  from  rny  mission  to  the  French. 
We  lay  some  ten  miles  to  the  east  of  the 
Monongahela  River,  and,  as  was  said,  thir 
teen  from  Duquesne  as  the  crow  flies. 

As  I  rested  and  we  talked,  came  also  Cap 
tain  Shirley  and  Captain  Gates  of  the 
Twenty-eighth  Regiment,  with  Stephens, 
Hamilton,  and  Stewart  of  the  Virginians. 
Of  all  of  them  I  was  the  only  man  not 
killed  or  wounded  in  the  next  day's  battle. 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  249 

I  may  well  entertain  my  brother  August's 
belief  that  the  conspicuous  hand  of  Provi 
dence  was  over  me,  and  he  must  be  worse 
than  an  infidel  who  lacks  faith  in  it. 

No  thought  of  to-morrow  troubled  our 
council  of  war,  and  we  discussed  with  spirit 
what  our  superiours  meant  to  do.  I  drew 
on  a  piece  of  birch  bark  a  rude  sketch  of 
the  country.  The  fort  lay  on  a  high  bluff 
in  the  angle  made  by  the  Ohio  and  Monon- 
gahela  rivers.  We  were,  as  I  said,  some 
ten  miles  to  the  east  of  the  latter  stream  and 
on  the  same  side  as  the  fort.  Between  us 
and  it  lay  the  deep,  rugged  ravines  of  Turtle 
Creek  and  the  brooks  which  run  into  it. 
The  country  beyond  it  was  densely  wooded 
and  without  any  road.  To  cross  the  creek 
and  cut  a  road  to  the  fort  would  be  the  most 
direct  way ;  otherwise  we  must  march  to  and 
cross  the  Monongahela,  a  fordable  river, 
and  afterwards  move  along  bluffs  three  or 
four  hundred  feet  high,  and  follow  the 
stream  for  five  miles.  We  should  then  de 
scend  to  the  water  and  arrive  at  a  second 
ford ;  having  crossed  it,  we  should  be  again 
on  the  same  side  as  the  fort.  Then  there 
wrould  be  before  us  a  slope,  and,  some  two 
miles  distant,  hid  in  the  woods,  the  bastions 


250  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

of  Duquesne.  Having  made  clear  to  my  fel 
low  aides  the  localities,  we  considered  the 
two  routes,  with  some  differences  of  opinion 
in  regard  to  which  was  the  better,  until  they 
were  called  away,  and  I  was  left  alone. 

Soon  after  came  Sir  John  St.  Clair,  sent 
by  the  general  with  a  kind  message.  I  then 
learned  that  some  effort  had  been  made  to 
cross  Turtle  Creek,  but  that  it  had  been 
found  impossible  to  get  the  artillery  over 
and  that  the  engineers  pronounced  it  im 
practicable.  Upon  this  the  general  had 
given  orders  to  change  the  route,  so  that  we 
should  follow  the  traders'  horse-trail,  on 
which  we  had  made  our  road,  and  should 
march  to  the  river.  There  we  were  to  ford 
the  stream  as  I  have  said,  move  on  the  far 
ther  bank  some  miles,  and  recross  by  the 
second  ford  to  the  east  side  again,  where  the 
lay  of  the  land  allowed,  as  was  supposed, 
of  an  easy  approach  to  the  fort. 

I  was  still  weak,  but  although  I  could 
have  desired  more  rest,  I  walked  at  dusk 
through  the  great  clearing  made  for  the 
camp,  to  report  myself  at  once  to  the  gen 
eral's  headquarters.  I  had  been  sorry  for 
his  obstinacy  and  the  rudeness  he  showed 
in  laughing  at  our  way  of  fighting,  but  I 


THE  YOUTH  OF   WASHINGTON  251 

had  been  told  by  Sir  Peter  Halket  that  he 
had  said  that  Mr.  Franklin  and  Colonel 
Washington  were  the  only  trustworthy  peo 
ple  he  had  met  in  the  colonies.  I  thought 
this  foolish  as  showing  poor  judgment; 
but  he  had  been  most  kind  to  me,  and  now, 
in  spite  of  all  his  blunders  and  our  own 
failures  to  supply  him  promptly,  which 
were  with  some  justice  to  be  complained  of, 
we  were,  as  it  seemed,  on  the  point  of  suc 
cess. 

When  I  presented  myself,  the  general 
asked  most  pleasantly  concerning  my 
health,  and  if  I  was  well  enough  to  serve 
as  aide.  I  assured  him  I  was,  but  I  was 
really  at  the  time  feeble  enough.  When  I 
ventured  to  make  him  my  compliments  on 
the  near  prospect  of  success  before  him,  he 
laughed  and  asked  where  had  been  the  need 
for  our  rangers  and  the  tribes  of  Indians, 
and  then  made  me  a  very  fine  speech,  which 
I  must  admit  to  having  been  pleased  at. 
I  ventured  to  ask  leave  to  go  on  in  the  ad 
vance  with  the  Virginia  wood-rangers,  so 
as  to  secure  the  pioneers  and  road-makers 
from  an  ambuscade.  He  replied  shortly: 
i 'Oh,  damn  your  half-drilled  rangers!  I 
shall  keep  them  as  a  rear-guard. "  I  rose 


252  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

and  apologized,  feeling  that  I  had  been  too 
forward  and  had  better  have  held  my 
tongue.  Indeed,  I  excused  myself  as  well 
as  I  could,  and  upon  this  his  face  cleared, 
and  he  said :  ' '  Colonel  Gage  is  to  have  the 
advance,  and  what  would  he  say  to  the  best 
regiment  of  the  King  being  protected  by  a 
mob  of  squatters  and  border  farmers.  No, 
sir;  I  desire  you  as  my  aide."  I  said  no 
more,  and  returned  to  my  tent. 

I  have  never  found  that  the  coming  of 
decisive  events  kept  me  awake  when  I  was 
myself  the  person  who  had  the  duty  of  de 
cision;  but  this  night,  whether  from  great 
fatigue  or  not,  for  that  does  keep  a  man 
from  sleep,  or  that  I  was  still  fevered,  I 
lay  awake  long,  unable  to  free  my  mind 
from  anxious  thoughts. 

I  regretted  that  I  had  not  asked  Mr. 
Franklin  why  at  night  we  heard  so  many 
sounds  in  the  woods  which  are  not  heard 
by  day.  No  doubt  he  would  have  found  an 
explanation.  Long  after  the  camp  was  at 
rest  I  remained  sleepless,  hearing  the  quick 
waters  of  the  creek  and  the  noises  of  the 
wood,  with  the  hoot-owl's  cry  and  the  chip 
munks  gamboling  over  the  canvas  of  my 
tent,  and  such  stir  of  the  camp  as  never 


THE  YOUTH  OF   WASHINGTON  253 

quite  ceased.  The  way  we  were  to  march 
troubled  me  and  others,  especially  Sir  Peter 
Halket,  who  had  forebodings,  concerning 
which  Dr.  Mercer  had  some  superstitious 
ideas,  such  as  my  mother  often  had,  but 
which  I  never  entertained,  or  if  as  to  any, 
it  is  in  the  way  of  dreams. 

I  had  reason  for  my  fears,  for  the  two 
fords  we  were  to  cross  could  be  easily  dis 
puted  by  a  small  party.  I  concluded  that 
to  leave  all  baggage  and  artillery  to  come 
later  by  the  fords,  and  to  make  a  quick  and 
direct  march  over  the  creek  and  along  a 
ridge  leading  to  the  fort,  would  be  the  bet 
ter  way. 

Having  settled  my  mind  as  to  what  I 
would  have  done  had  I  been  in  command,  I 
disposed  myself  for  sleep,  but  with  no  good 
result  until  so  late  that  I  heard  no  reveille 
sounded,  and  was  waked  by  my  orderly. 


XXXVI 

I  DO  not  pretend,  even  now,  to  be  ac 
quainted  with  all  the  reasons  which  in 
fluenced  the  general;  but  having  made  up 
his  mind,  we  broke  camp  on  the  8th  and 
marched  southwest  along  a  little  stream  the 
scouts  called  Long  Run,  and  so  about  eight 
miles  towards  the  river  Monongahela,  being 
thus  at  last  two  miles  from  the  ford  he 
meant  to  cross  the  next  day. 

When,  in  the  afternoon  about  six  o  'clock, 
I  was  released  from  duty,  I  walked  through 
the  camps  with  Sir  Peter  Halket.  The  men 
were  cleaning  their  guns  and  brushing  their 
clothes  and  soaping  queues  and  pipe-clay 
ing,  all  a,s  if  for  parade  and  very  needless. 

Sir  Peter,  a  man  of  excellent  parts  and 
a  good  soldier,  had  expressed  himself  in  the 
council  as  averse  to  the  plan  of  march. 
When  he  asked  after  my  health  and  if  I 
had  again  regained  my  strength,  I  replied 
that  I  was  fit  for  duty,  but  had  been  better 
if  I  had  been  able  to  sleep.  He  said  with 

254 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  255 

gravity  that  many  would  sleep  soundly  to 
morrow  and  that  he  was  sure  he  himself 
would  be  killed.  This  seemed  strange  to  me, 
and  I  could  only  reply  that  I  did  not  think 
I  should  be  killed,  but  that  we  might  both 
be  wrong;  and  yet  both  of  us  were  right, 
for  these  matters  are  in  the  hands  of  the 
great  Disposer  of  Events,  and  have  never 
troubled  me  on  going  into  battle.  One  of 
my  aides  in  the  Revolutionary  War,  Colonel 
Scammel,  to  whom  I  was  much  attached, 
did  always  believe  he  would  be  killed,  as 
indeed  happened,  at  last,  to  my  sorrow,  at 
Yorktown. 

Dr.  Craik  was  with  me  that  evening  and 
found  me  chilled  and  full  of  aches ;  but  not 
withstanding  a  potion  he  gave  me,  I  slept  ill 
again,  and  was  aroused  in  the  morning  by 
my  good  doctor.  He  advised  a  glass  of  rum, 
for  which  I  felt  the  better,  and  when  I  had 
eaten  and  was  in  the  saddle  I  repaired  to 
where  was  General  Braddock,  a  short  dis 
tance  from  the  shore.  He  was  in  a  gay  hu 
mour  and  very  kind,  asking  if  I  felt  well 
and  would  drink  with  him  to  the  King  that 
evening  in  the  French  fort.  I  could  do  no 
more  than  reply  that  to  do  so  would  give 
me  great  pleasure.  I  was  presently  sent 


256  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

down  to  the  shore  with  a  message,  and  there 
saw  Colonel  Gage  crossing  the  shallow  ford 
to  some  open  meadow-lands  on  the  farther 
side.  He  was  to  secure  the  two  fords  by 
which  the  whole  force  following  him  was  to 
cross  and  then  recross,  so  as  to  be  again 
on  the  same  side  of  the  river  as  Fort  Du- 
quesne.  After  him,  about  four  o'clock, 
came  Sir  John  St.  Clair,  with  carpenters 
—or,  as  we  should  say,  axemen— and  en 
gineers,  some  three  hundred  in  all. 

I  lingered  a  few  moments  and  saw  the 
last  of  the  advance,  as  they  marched  up 
from  the  farther  bank  of  the  river  and  their 
red  coats  disappeared  into  the  forest  be 
yond  the  ford,  which  was,  I  thought,  well 
chosen  and  shallow. 

Before  I  went  back,  Gist,  the  trader,  and 
Captain  Croghan  came  to  speak  to  me.  I 
remarked  that  we  had  done  well  to  come 
so  far  without  more  trouble  from  the  In 
dians.  Gist  laughed  and  said :  ' '  They  have 
never  left  us  since  we  dropped  you  at  the 
Youghiogheny. ' '  Then  Croghan  cried  out, 
"There  they  are,"  and  there  was  a  sound 
of  musketry  beyond  the  river.  It  proved 
to  be  a  small  body  of  savages,  easily  dis 
persed  by  Gage.  It  being  then  about  six 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  257 

o'clock  A.M.,  the  signal  to  fall  in,  which  we 
call  the  "general,"  was  beat,  and  the  main 
body  fell  in  with  fresh  cartridges. 

The  officers  were  in  full  uniform,  and  so, 
with  fixed  bayonets  and  colours  flying  and 
the  drums  beating  the  Grenadier's  March, 
they  waded  the  stream. 

I  sat  in  the  saddle  with  the  two  aides, 
Captains  Orme  and  Morris,  and  with  the  in 
terest  of  a  young  soldier  watched  this  fine 
body  of  men  fall  in  with  perfect  discipline 
on  the  further  side  and  disappear  in  their 
turn.  This  being  the  main  body,  the  staff 
followed  with  the  general,  and  I  was  sent 
back  to  hasten  up  the  rangers,  who  had  the 
rear.  I  found  them  about  two  hundred  and 
thirty  strong,  moving  slowly,  most  in  hunt 
ing-shirts  and  fur  caps  and  moccasins.  A 
part  were  thrown  out  far  to  right  and  left 
in  the  woods.  Ensign  Allen  and  an  officer 
whose  name  I  forget  appeared  to  be  in  com 
mand,  and  were  vainly  endeavouring  to 
keep  up  some  of  the  military  order  they  had 
been  teaching.  I  thought  them  wanting  in 
sense  and  wished  I  had  the  rangers  at  the 
front.  I  gave  my  message  and  left  them. 
Then  I  made  haste  to  ride  back  to  the  ford, 
which  was  still  held  by  a  small  guard.  Here 

17 


258  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

I  waited,  as  I  was  ordered  to  do,  to  see  the 
rear  well  over  and  into  the  woods.  After 
crossing  the  ford  I  found  that  a  rough  road 
had  been  cleared  by  the  French  along  the 
bluffs,  and  hurried  through  the  woods  be 
side  the  moving  column  to  report. 

It  was  noon  before  we  got  to  the  second 
ford,  where,  after  much  delay  with  the  ar 
tillery,  we  got  over,  I  think  a  little  after 
one  o'clock,  as  fine  a  sight  as  ever  I  saw. 
Here,  before  us,  were  some  open  meadows 
about  a  quarter-mile  wide,  and,  twenty  feet 
above,  the  ford,  with  a  fair  road  leading 
upward  over  a  little  stream  called  Frazier  's 
Run,  and  into  the  woods.  Very  quickly, 
the  aides  carrying  messages  at  need,  the 
men  were  got  into  marching  orders.  For 
a  full  quarter  of  a  mile  there  were  bottom 
lands  in  two  easy  rises,  and  beyond  these 
the  ground  rose  more  abrupt  amid  long 
grass,  very  dry,  and  thick  bushes,  great 
rocks,  and  trunks  of  fallen  trees,  which  the 
garrison  must  have  felled  for  fuel. 

Long  afterwards  I  rode  over  this  field 
and  saw  better  the  trap  into  which  we  fell. 
On  both  sides  of  the  road,  which  was  broad 
and  much  used,  the  ground  rose,  and  here, 
where  the  wood  was  more  dense,  amid  thick 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  259 

underwood,  were  ravines,  some  very  deep 
and  others  only  five  or  six  feet.  These  gul 
lies  lay  among  great  trees,  pines  and  gum, 
and  a  tangle  of  grape-vines,  brambles,  and 
Indian  plums.  One  long  and  deeper  ravine 
was  the  bed  of  a  little  creek,  and  on  the  right 
of  the  road  the  ground  rose  quite  steep. 
Further  on,  as  I  saw  at  the  time,  for  the  ad 
vance  was  slow,  I  observed  that  the  woods 
seemed  to  show  a  series  of  low  hills,  and 
beyond  them  a  greater  rise  of  land  to  the 
fort,  which  was  hid  some  two  miles  away 
on  the  bluff,  nor  did  we  ever  have  sight  of 
it. 

Meanwhile  we  of  the  main  body,  halting 
now  and  then,  marched  slowly  up  from  the 
ford  towards  the  deeper  woods,  watching 
the  advance  as  it  entered  the  forest,  and 
quite  ignorant  of  the  ravines,  or  of  an  en 
emy,  so  hid  were  they  in  the  underbrush. 

The  main  body  halted  in  the  mid-space, 
where  the  battle  was  later  engaged,  so  that 
we  lay  for  the  time  just  on  the  second  bot 
tom.  By  this  time  Colonel  Gage  was  far 
in  front  with  guides  and  engineers,  engag 
ing  in  the  woods,  and  Sir  John  St.  Clair, 
with  his  working-party  of  pioneers,  axemen, 
and  grenadiers,  followed.  All  was  very  or- 


260  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

derly,  with  flanking-parties  thrown  out  on 
both  sides,  but  not,  to  my  mind,  far  enough. 
Orme  wrote  me  afterwards,  when  he  had 
learned  better,  "It  was  all  as  if  for  a  fine 
review  in  St.  James's  Park." 


XXXVII 

AT  this  time,  as  I  said,  I  was  with  Gen 
eral  Braddock  on  the  upper  bottom.  I 
considered  that  between  the  narrow  road, 
where  the  three  hundred  men  of  the  advance 
were  entering  in  the  woods,  and  the  ford, 
might  have  been  about  six  hundred  perches. 
I  took  out  my  watch  and  saw  that  it  was  ten 
minutes  to  two.  As  I  turned  to  look  for 
ward,  heavy  firing  broke  out  in  the  woods 
and  among  the  rocks  and  bushes.  I  knew 
too  well  the  Indian  yells.  I  could  see  men 
falling  and  others  dropping  back.  Orme 
rode  forward  to  get  some  account  for  the 
general.  In  a  few  minutes  he  returned, 
badly  wounded  in  the  left  arm.  Sir  John 
still  advancing,  the  general  ordered  Colonel 
Burton,  of  the  main  van,  forward  with 
eight  hundred  men.  There  was  now  thick 
smoke  about  the  advance  on  the  edge  of 
the  deeper  wood,  and  amid  yells  and  cries 
the  whole  of  what  was  left  of  the  pioneers 
and  their  guard  fell  back  out  of  the  woods, 

261 


262  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

at  first  a  few,  and  then  many,  and  down 
the  upper  slope,  somewhat  disordering  Sir 
John's  supporting  party. 

Sir  Peter  Halket  was  told  to  remain  with 
four  hundred  men  as  a  baggage-guard,  and 
the  general  rode  forward  himself  with  Colo 
nel  Burton's  eight  hundred  men,  ordering 
a  bayonet  charge  of  a  party  up  the  hill  on 
our  right,  whence  came  so  hot  a  fire  from 
unseen  enemies  that  the  officers  were  at  once 
killed,  and  the  men  fell  back  at  a  run. 

For  some  time  Sir  John's  force  behaved 
with  great  courage  and  let  the  broken  pio 
neers  pass  through  their  lines,  but  could 
never  be  got  to  go  farther,  and  stood  stu 
pidly  firing  into  the  wood.  At  last,  as  the 
officers  fell,  the  advance  became  more 
broken  and  began  to  retreat  slowly,  but  at 
last  running,  until  they  were  mixed  up  with 
Colonel  Burton's  reinforcement. 

I  never  saw  in  my  later  warfare  worse 
confusion  nor  a  hotter  fire,  nor  men  better 
hid,  for  the  savages  and  French  lay  in  the 
ravines  among  the  brush  and  picked  off  the 
mounted  officers,  or  fired  into  the  masses 
of  men  with  no  need  to  take  accurate  aim. 

It  is  my  opinion  that  even  then  if  the 
general  had  remained  on  the  cleared  ground 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  263 

below  and  there  rallied  the  men,  where  was 
open  space  and  on  the  sides  little  cover,  the 
day  might  have  been  saved,  as  the  small 
French  and  Indian  force  would  never  have 
left  the  woods.  He,  however,  pushed  on  in 
person,  urging  an  advance,  and  sent  Cap 
tain  Morris  to  order  up  Sir  Peter  Halket 
and  the  rear-guard.  We  were  now  caught 
on  both  sides  among  ravines,  great  rocks, 
and  trees,  where  on  our  front  and  on  both 
flanks  the  enemy  spread  out  in  the  woods. 
The  more  of  our  force  came  up  from  the 
rear,  the  easier  was  the  slaughter.  For  a 
time  I  was  with  the  general  and  implored 
him  to  order  the  men  into  the  woods. 
Whether  he  heard  me  or  not,  I  cannot  say. 
What  with  our  regulars  shooting  at  random, 
the  replies  from  the  ravines  and  woods,  the 
orders  of  officers,  the  yells  of  the  Indians, 
and  the  cries  of  the  wounded,  there  was  a 
confusedness  fit  to  turn  any  man's  head. 
When  the  men  tried  to  take  wood  shelter, 
as  was  proper  and  reasonable,  the  general 
and  their  officers  cursed  them  for  cowards 
and  struck  them  with  the  flat  of  their  swords. 
The  poor  dogs  tried  to  obey  their  leaders, 
and  again  and  again  formed  into  platoons, 
facing  to  left  or  right,  making  them  only  the 


264  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

easier  to  kill.  I  saw  Captain  Orme  of 
the  artillery  fall  dead  as  they  rode  up  with 
the  cannon,  and  the  engineer,  Captain 
Henry  Gordon,  dropped  wounded,  but  got 
up  and  did,  I  believe,  succeed  to  reach  the 
ford. 

The  men  with  the  swivels  stood  to  it  well 
in  giving  some  shots,  and  then  gave  way, 
most  of  them  tumbling  almost  in  heaps. 
Seeing  this,  I  dismounted  with  two  other 
officers,  and  made  a  man  hold  my  horse, 
and  aided  to  fire  into  the  ravine  on  the 
right ;  but  the  few  men  left  who  should  have 
helped  to  serve  the  piece  soon  dropped,  hurt 
or  dead,  and  seeing  I  could  no  further  assist, 
I  mounted  again  and  turned  out  of  the 
broken  ranks  to  meet  the  Virginia  rangers, 
who  were  running  up  the  slope  and  spread 
ing  out  to  right  and  left,  taking  shelter 
wherever  was  a  tree  or  rock,  all  most  gal 
lant  and  well  done.  Although  the  turmoil 
was  such  as  I  cannot  describe,  there  were 
many  brave  efforts  to  rally  and  to  carry 
the  high  ground  above  our  right.  All  this 
lasted  fully  an  hour  or  more,  for  at  times, 
discipline  prevailing,  orders  were  given  to 
storm  the  flanking  slopes,  and  constantly 
failed  to  be  effectual,  for,  as  the  officers 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  265 

were  picked  off,  the  men  ran  back  to  the 
main  body. 

The  smoke  was  by  this  time  so  thick  as 
somewhat  to  obscure  all  things  at  a  distance, 
but  a  sudden  wind,  arising,  cleared  it  away, 
and  I  saw  that  we  were  giving  way  more 
and  more,  the  whole  body  of  the  force  mov 
ing  slowly  down  the  slope.  As  I  looked  about 
me  in  despair,  my  horse  fell  and  rolled  over 
dead.  By  good  fortune  I  had  learned  in 
fox-hunting  how  to  fall  clear.  In  a  moment 
I  was  up,  and  saw  that  the  troops  were 
scattered  in  detachments  and  firing  at  ran 
dom,  or  vainly  trying  in  groups  to  follow 
their  officers,  who  were  shot  down  merci 
lessly.  I  saw  Captain  Shirley,  the  general 's 
secretary,  fall  dead.  He  was  quite  close 
to  me,  and  amidst  all  this  tumult  his  horse 
stood  still,  and,  to  my  amazement,  began  to 
eat  the  grass.  I  caught  the  beast  and 
mounted.  I  hardly  knew  what  to  do.  The 
Virginians  were  being  shot  by  the  regulars, 
who  knew  no  more  than  to  fire  wherever 
they  saw  smoke  from  behind  a  tree  or  bush. 
As  to  orders,  there  were  at  this  time  none, 
and,  indeed,  until  just  above  the  river,  no 
sufficient  space  to  move  in  without  taking  to 
the  woods. 


266  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

I  tried  to  help  the  general  and  the  few 
left  of  the  officers  in  their  efforts  to  effect 
an  orderly  retreat.  I  have  heard  that  five 
horses  were  shot  under  him.  This  I  was  told 
by  Captain  Morris,  and  it  is  no  doubt  true, 
for  the  horse  is  a  large  object  and  easy 
to  hit.  Few  officers  were  left  alive,  and 
those  who  were  unhurt  could  not  get  the 
regulars  to  obey  a  command.  What  was  left 
of  twelve  hundred  men  were  huddled  to 
gether  in  groups  in  and  out  of  the  woods, 
as  I  have  seen  sheep  in  a  storm. 

The  general  showed  great  courage,  and 
made  many  efforts  in  person  to  rally  the 
men  or  get  them  to  retreat  in  an  orderly 
way.  He  was  carried  down  the  slope  with 
the  rout,  but  remained  as  obstinate  as  ever 
as  to  the  way  of  fighting,  insisting  on  the 
men  re-forming.  Sir  Peter  Halket,  Morris, 
and  I  vainly  entreated  him  to  order  the 
soldiers  to  take  shelter  as  the  rangers  did. 
As  Sir  Peter  spoke,  he  dropped  dead.  His 
son,  the  captain,  dismounted  to  help  him, 
and  fell  dead  on  his  father's  body. 

I  have  never  seen  a  man  who  could  de 
scribe  what  took  place  in  the  midst  of  a 
battle,  nor  can  I  pretend  to  greater  accuracy. 
I  remember  that  after  an  hour  or  more  I 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  267 

became  suddenly  sure  that  all  was  lost.  The 
whole  disordered  mass  now  broke  and  ran 
as  sheep  before  hounds,  leaving  artillery, 
provisions,  baggage,  and  the  wounded  and 
dying— in  short,  everything.  When  finally 
a  dozen  gallant  officers  threw  themselves  in 
front,  they  were  knocked  down  and  tram 
pled  on.  We  had  as  little  success  as  if  we 
had  attempted  to  stop  the  wild  bears  of  the 
mountains,  or  torrents,  with  our  feet.  It 
was  quite  useless. 

At  this  time  General  Braddock  was  under 
a  great  oak  near  to  where  we  left  the  wag 
gons.  I  was  beside  him  and  heard  him  cry 
out,  "They  have  got  me."  Captain  Stew 
art,  of  the  Virginia  light  guard,  caught  him 
as  he  reeled  in  the  saddle,  shot  through  the 
right  arm  and  lung.  The  men  ran  past  us, 
refusing  to  help ;  but  another  officer  aiding 
us,  he  was  somehow  got  on  to  a  tumbrel  and 
was  carried  along  in  what  was  now  a  mad 
flight  to  get  to  the  ford.  I  heard  him  cry 
out : ' l  Let  me  alone.  Let  me  die  here. ' ' 

The  waggoners  in  our  rear  near  the  ford 
cut  loose  the  traces  and  mounted  their 
horses  and  fled.  In  spite  of  the  great  cour 
age  shown  by  the  officers,  who  in  camp  were 
drunken  or  seemed  to  be  effeminate  or 


268  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

lazy,  all  who  were  of  mind  to  resist  were 
swept  away  by  a  mere  mob  of  panic-struck 
men.  Men  caught  on  to  my  stirrups,  and 
even  the  horse's  mane,  but  somehow  I  got 
free  and  out  again  to  one  side.  Instantly 
my  second  horse  staggered  and  went  down. 
I  saw  Dr.  Craik,  near  by,  with  the  utmost 
devotion,  although  himself  wounded,  help 
ing  a  disabled  officer  to  walk  away.  I  was 
now  afoot,  and,  as  I  saw  how  complete  was 
the  rout,  I  began  to  fear  that  our  brave  Vir 
ginians  would  none  of  them  escape.  They 
held  the  fringe  of  the  woods  with  wonder 
ful  courage,  using  their  rifles,  and  keeping 
back  the  French  and  Indians.  Nothing  else 
saved  the  troops  of  his  Majesty  from  com 
plete  massacre. 

As  I  stood  still  a  moment  I  heard  Cro- 
ghan  call  loudly  to  me  to  take  to  cover.  I 
took  his  advice,  and  God  alone  knows  how 
I  escaped  death.  I  had  four  balls  through 
my  clothes. 

The  leaders  of  the  rangers  now  saw  how 
great  was  their  peril.  The  regulars  were 
by  this  time  near  the  ford,  in  the  river,  or 
across  it.  A  few  brave  men  in  groups  were 
retreating  slowly,  firing  useless  shots.  The 
enemy,  yelling  in  triumph,  were  crawling 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  269 

or  leaping  nearer  from  time  to  time.  Now 
and  then  a  painted  savage  ran  out  from 
cover  and  fled  back,  shaking  a  bloody  scalp. 

The  rangers  had  lost  heavily,  but  those 
who  were  left  slipped  from  one  shelter  to 
another,  and  at  last,  when  there  was  little 
cover  left,  ran  down  to  the  river,  and  I  with 
them.  Few  would  have  got  away  except 
for  the  desire  of  the  Indians  to  plunder  the 
dead  and  the  baggage  and  to  collect  scalps, 
and  that  the  French  were  too  few  in  num 
ber  to  venture  on  pursuit. 

I  got  over  the  ford  in  haste,  and  stand 
ing  still  on  the  rise  of  ground  beyond  the 
river,  looked  at  my  watch.  I  could  hardly 
believe  it  to  be,  as  I  saw,  five  o  'clock.  Most 
of  those  who  were  unhurt  were  now  safe, 
and  with  Captain  Croghan  I  began  to  gather 
the  wreck  of  our  poor  rangers.  One  com 
pany  was  almost  all  gone;  another  lost 
every  officer  and  many  men.  As  to  the  reg 
ulars,  seven  hundred,  nearly  half  of  the 
force,  were  dead  or  wounded.  A  part  of 
what  was  left  of  this  fine  army  was  soon 
scattered  beyond  the  two  fords,  and  later 
was  starved  in  the  woods  or  got  at  last  into 
the  camps. 

About  a  hundred  men  were  gathered  by 


270  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

the  officers  a  quarter  of  a  mile  beyond  our 
first  ford.  There  Lieutenant-Colonel  Bur 
ton  rallied  some  hundreds  of  men,  and  later 
about  eighty,  under  Colonel  Gage,  joined 
them.  To  my  relief,  and  greatly  to  my  sur 
prise,  there  was  no  pursuit. 


XXXVIII 

THAT  night  the  parties  and  sentinels 
thrown  out  deserted  in  an  hour.  Al 
though  very  weak,  I  sat  up  beside  the  gen 
eral  all  night.  Dr.  Craik,  who  had  cared  for 
his  wound  in  the  lung,  assured  me  that  he 
would  certainly  die  before  dawn;  but  he 
lived  longer  than  was  expected.  I  never  re 
member  having  been  more  disturbed  in 
mind  than  during  that  night. 

We  all  sat  up,  armed,  in  or  about  the 
rude  shelter  which  held  General  Braddock, 
and  talked  in  whispers  sadly  of  the  battle. 
Captain  Montresor  and  also  Captain  Gor 
don  of  the  engineers,  who  gave  the  first 
alarm,  and  who  was  severely  wounded,  de 
clared  to  me  that  so  complete  were  the  shel 
ters  that  he  never  saw  so  much  as  a  half- 
dozen  of  the  enemy.  We  could  only  lament 
the  fate  of  the  wounded  left  on  the  field, 
for  the  French  made  later  no  return  of  pris 
oners.  Every  moment  I  expected  to  hear 
the  yells  of  the  Indians. 

271 


272  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

At  break  of  day  we  rigged  a  kind  of  litter 
and  got  away,  being  soon  joined,  to  my  re 
lief,  by  Colonel  Gage  and  his  eighty  men.  I 
caught  here  a  stray  waggon-horse  and  rode 
him,  with  a  rope  bridle  and  no  saddle  but 
a  blanket. 

As  we  pushed  on  through  the  woods,  Col 
onel  Gage  talked  with  me  at  length  of  the 
disaster.  He  made  many  excuses  for  the 
soldiers,  a,s  that  they  had  been  worn  out  by 
labour  on  the  way,  had  no  rum,  and  were 
disheartened  by  the  tales  our  rangers  had 
told  them  of  the  Indians. 

Indeed,  I  fear  it  was  true  that  the  Vir 
ginians  amused  themselves  with  talk  about 
legions  of  rattlesnakes,  bears,  and  scalping. 
Croghan  said  the  regulars  were  babes  in 
the  woods  and  quite  as  helpless.  I  made 
answer  to  the  colonel  that  but  for  our  rang 
ers  few  of  his  Majesty's  men  would  have 
seen  their  homes,  and  that  the  soldiers  had 
behaved  like  poltroons.  He  said  that  was 
true,  and  after  this  we  walked  our  horses 
on  through  the  woods  in  silence,  the  rangers 
ahead. 

I  met  this  officer  again  in  1773,  when, 
being  a  general,  he  was  entertained  at  din 
ner  by  the  citizens  of  New  York.  At  this 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  273 

time  the  freedom  of  the  city  of  New  York 
was  presented  to  him  in  a  gold  box  having 
on  it  the  arms  of  that  city,  and  below,  those 
of  the  King.1  Our  final  intercourse  was  by 
letter,  when  he  was  besieged  in  Boston  and 
I  felt  it  needful  to  remonstrate  upon  his 
treatment  of  prisoners. 

So  many  officers  were  wounded  that,  the 
day  after  the  battle,  although  very  weak, 
it  fell  to  me,  having  at  last  been  better 
horsed,  to  carry  orders  to  the  force  we  had 
left  forty  miles  in  our  rear. 

With  a  half-dozen  horse  I  rode  on  all 
night  in  a  drizzle  of  rain,  and  so  all  the  next 
day,  very  melancholy  and  ready  to  drop 
with  fatigue.  Indeed,  I  fell  down  as  I  dis 
mounted  when  I  rode  in  to  Colonel  Dun- 
bar  's  camp,  and  was  only  revived  by  a  little 
spirits  and  a  good  meal.  The  whole  force 
we  had  left  here  had  been  scared  by  our 
runaway  waggoners  and  were  with  difficulty 
kept  from  flying. 

The  provisions  and  waggon  needed  for 
the  general  were  made  ready  during  the 
night,  and  at  break  of  day,  with  two  com 
panies  of  grenadiers,  I  rode  back  again, 
hardly  knowing  if  I  should  drop  on  the 

1  Now  in  the  possession  of  Lord  Rosebery.— EDITOR. 

18 


274  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

road.  I  met  the  general  at  Gist's  cabin, 
some  thirteen  miles  away.  On  our  return 
we  halted  half  a  day  at  Dunbar  's  camp,  and 
then  hurried  on  with  his  force  to  Great 
Meadows,  where  we  camped  on  the  13th  of 
July.  There  were,  as  some  of  us  believed, 
still  men  enough,  if  fitly  handled,  to  return 
and  surprise  the  French;  but,  as  Gist  said, 
these  men  were  already  defeated,  and  no 
one  of  those  in  command  meant  to  try  it 
again.  Indeed,  Dunbar  intended  for  Phila 
delphia  and  to  wait  there  for  reinforce- 
ments.  Even  Governor  Dinwiddie  would 
have  had  him  make  a  new  campaign;  but 
they  had  all  of  them  had,  as  Dr.  Craik  said, 
a  big  dose  of  Indian  medicine,  and  a  council 
decided  with  the  colonel.  The  governor 
was  much  troubled  when  he  heard  of  this 
decision,  and,  as  he  told  me  later,  wrote  to 
Lord  Halifax  that  he  would  have  now  not 
only  to  guard  the  border,  but  to  protect  the 
counties  from  combinations  of  negro 
slaves,  who  had  become,  Governor  Dinwid 
die  declared,  audacious  since  General  Brad- 
dock's  defeat,  because  the  poor  creatures  be 
lieved  the  French  would  give  them  their 
freedom.  My  wounded  general's  proud 
spirit  gave  way  when  he  heard  of  Colonel 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  275 

Dunbar's  intention.  He  lived  four  days 
after  the  battle,  having  been  brought  in 
much  pain,  and  still  more  distress  of  mind, 
to  the  camp  at  Great  Meadows. 

For  the  most  part  he  was  silent  and  only 
now  and  then  let  a  groan.  Dr.  Craik  told 
me  that  he  cried  out  over  and  over :  i  i  Who 
would  have  believed  it  possible?"  Once 
he  said  to  Captain  Stewart : i '  We  shall  know 
better  next  time;  but  what  will  the  duke 
say?  [That  was  his  Grace  of  Cumberland.] 
What  will  he  say!"  On  the  morning  of 
the  13th  Dr.  Craik  said  the  general  had 
made  his  will  and  desired  to  see  me.  When 
he  was  aware  of  my  coming  into  his  hut, 
he  put  out  his  left  hand,  saying,  "That  is 
the  only  hand  which  is  left,"  for  the  ball 
had  gone  through  his  right  arm.  He  was 
said  to  be  a  great  wit,  but  that  a  man  about 
to  die  should  have  spirit  to  use  his  dying 
breath  in  a  jest  much  astonished  me. 

He  said :  "  I  want  you  to  take  my  horse 
and  my  man,  Bishop.  I  have  told  St. 
Clair. ' '  Then  he  said :  "  I  should  have  taken 
your  advice.  Too  late;  too  late."  After 
this  he  closed  his  eyes,  and  again,  after  a 
little,  opened  them  and  said  feebly:  "If  I 
lived  I  should  never  wish  to  see  a  red  coat 


276  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

again.  My  compliments  to  the  governor." 
He  spoke  no  more,  only,  "How  they  will 
curse  me ! ' '  and  I  went  out.  In  fact,  I  was 
too  weak  to  endure  the  deadly  sorrow  with 
which  this  brave  man's  miserable  end  af 
flicted  me,  to  whom  he  had  been  so  kind  a 
friend. 

I  endeavoured  to  distract  my  mind  by 
examining  the  remains  of  the  fort  I  had  here 
made.  To  my  amazement,  I  saw,  as  I  moved 
about,  that  there  was  little  discipline,  and  I 
observed  that  where  there  is  too  much  drill 
and  mechanical  order  a  defeat  does  away 
with  it  entirely.  The  colonials  it  was  hard 
to  instruct;  but  as  every  man  was  used  to 
rely  on  himself  at  any  minute,  and  not  to 
look  all  the  time  for  orders,  they  suffered 
less  during  disaster,  and  on  a  retreat  knew 
how  to  care  for  themselves.  Now  the  few 
that  were  left  looked  on  with  wonder  at  the 
stupid  destruction  of  waggons,  provisions, 
and  even  artillery.  Many  of  the  officers 
were  disgusted,  and  protested  against  these 
disgraceful  proceedings. 

But  Colonel  Dunbar  meant  to  move  on 
to  Philadelphia,  as  he  said,  for  winter  quar 
ters,  and  yet  now  it  was  only  July,  and  he 
had  men  enough  left  to  guard  the  frontier 
or  to  return  and  take  the  fort. 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  277 

I  felt  sick  and  worn  out,  and  soon  went 
to  my  shelter  among  the  Virginians.  I 
threw  myself  down  and  fell  into  a  deep 
sleep,  and  indeed  never  stirred  until  Cap 
tain  Walter  Stewart  had  to  shake  me  to 
wake  me  up.  I  must  have  dreamed,  for  he 
told  me  I  had  called  out  "Indians"  twice. 

When  I  was  well  awakened,  he  said : ' '  We 
are  to  move  at  once.  Every  frog  that  croaks 
and  every  screech-owl  is  an  Indian  for  these 
whipped  curs.  The  general  died  at  twelve 
o  'clock.  He  is  to  be  buried  in  the  roadway, 
so  that  the  red  devils  may  not  dig  up  his 
scalp.  Colonel  Dunbar  asks  that  you  will 
read  the  service. ' ' 

I  thought  the  request  strange  until  he  re 
minded  me,  as  indeed  I  knew,  that  the  chap 
lain,  Mr.  Hamilton,  who  had  behaved  with 
good  sense  and  courage  in  the  action,  was 
badly  wounded,  and  that  the  colonel,  who 
was  the  proper  person  for  this  sad  business, 
was  occupied  in  arranging  for  the  march 
and  in  destroying  what  had  been  gathered 
at  such  great  cost. 

It  was  just  before  break  of  day  I  went 
out  after  Stewart,  feeling  a  kind  of  satis 
faction  that  the  coward  in  command  was  not 
to  commit  to  the  grave  my  poor  general, 
whom,  being  dead,  every  one  would  abuse. 

19 


XXXIX 

IF  I  had  the  pen  of  a  good  writer  I  should 
incline  to  describe  what  I  saw.  There 
were  great  fires  burning,  and  all  manner 
of  baggage  and  stores  thrown  on  them.  The 
regulars  were  chopping  up  the  artillery- 
waggons  and  casting  ammunition  into  a 
creek. 

About  a  hundred  yards  away  from  my 
hut,  in  the  middle  of  the  road,  a  deep  grave 
was  dug.  A  few  officers  and  men  were  gath 
ered  about  it,  and  on  the  ground  lay  the 
general's  body,  wrapt  in  a  cloak,  but  no 
coffin.  I  looked  about  me,  not  knowing  how 
to  conduct  the  matter.  Then  an  orderly 
handed  me  the  chaplain's  prayer-book,  with 
a  marker  at  the  funeral  service. 

As  I  was  about  to  begin,  Lieutenant-Colo 
nel  Burton  came  forward  with  a  flag  and 
laid  it  decently  over  the  dead  man.  Then  he 
placed  on  it  his  sword,  and  fell  back,  and  all 
uncovered.  After  this  I  read  slowly,  for  the 

278 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  279 

light  was  yet  dim,  the  service  of  the  church. 
This  being  over,  the  men  lowered  the  body 
into  the  grave  and  filled  it  up  with  earth, 
and  cast  stones  and  bushes  over  it .  No 
guard  was  ordered,  and  no  volley  fired,  lest, 
as  was  said,  it  might  be  heard  by  the  enemy, 
which  appeared  to  me  foolish,  for  there  was 
noise  enough,  and  at  any  minute  one  hun 
dred  men  in  the  woods  would  have  routed 
the  whole  camp. 

Dunbar  made  haste  to  get  away,  and  I  was 
not  less  pleased  to  be  out  of  an  ill-contrived 
business. 

This  affair  was  a  serious  blow  to  the  be 
lief  in  the  colonies  as  to  the  high  value  of 
the  King's  soldiers.  It  became  like  a  prov 
erb  in  Virginia  to  say  a  man  "ran  like  a 
regular. ' ' 

Mr.  Franklin  said  to  me  long  afterwards 
that  this  disaster  gave  us  the  first  suspicion 
that  our  exalted  ideas  of  the  powers  of  Brit 
ish  regular  troops  had  not  been  well 
founded,  and  indeed  I  am  assured  that  when 
Lord  Percy's  and  Colonel  Pitcairn's  force 
was  put  to  flight  at  Lexington  the  older 
farmers  on  our  own  frontiers,  when  they 
knew  what  had  been  done,  were  less  amazed 
than  the  minute-men  of  Massachusetts. 


280  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

We  reached  Wills  Creek  on  the  18th,  as 
Morris  said,  the  worst-beaten  army  that 
had  not  been  in  battle.  Colonel  Dunbar  did 
not  require  my  aid,  and  my  general  being 
dead,  my  service  as  a  volunteer  was  at  an 
end. 

The  march  to  the  settlements  was  most 
disgraceful— all  in  cowardly  haste  to  get 
out  of  the  wilderness.  I  am  satisfied  that 
no  troops  are  so  given  to  pillage  as  a  re 
treating  army,  and  certainly  none  was  ever 
worse  conducted  by  the  officers  or  more 
disorderly  than  Colonel  Dunbar 's  force. 
The  settlers  and  outlying  farms  near  Fort 
Cumberland  suffered  much;  men  and 
women  were  misused,  and  chickens  and  cat 
tle  stolen.  I  heard  afterwards  that  in  their 
inarch  through  Pennsylvania  Dunbar 's  men 
plundered  and  insulted  the  farmers  still 
worse,  and  were  quite  enough,  Mr.  Franklin 
said,  to  put  us  out  of  all  patience  with  such 
defenders. 

I  bade  good-by  to  the  aides  of  the  general, 
and  would  have  had  Orme  and  Morris  go 
home  with  me  to  be  cared  for  by  Mr.  Craik, 
but  they  preferred  to  go  on  to  Philadelphia. 
They  were  much  dispirited,  but  had  only 
warm  praise  for  my  Virginia  rangers.  I 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  281 

was  in  no  better  humour,  and  felt,  as  I  rode 
away,  that  we  were  on  the  edge  of  an  awful 
crisis  for  the  border  counties.  The  favour 
able  sentiments  Sir  John  St.  Clair  and  Colo 
nel  Burton  were  pleased  to  express  respect 
ing  me  could  not  but  be  pleasing;  but  the 
situation  of  our  affairs  was,  to  my  mind,  so 
serious  as  to  put  me  into  one  of  my  melan 
cholic  moods  and  to  make  me  feel,  as  I  often 
did  in  the  greater  war,  that,  what  with  want 
of  patriotism  and  lack  of  spirit,  only  that 
Providence  in  which  I  have  always  trusted 
could  carry  us  through  a  great  peril.  As 
usual,  a  brisk  ride  jolted  me  into  a  more 
hopeful  state  of  mind. 

I  lay  for  a  day  at  Winchester  in  a  poor 
tavern,  cared  for  by  the  general's  man, 
Bishop.  There,  to  my  comfort,  came  Lord 
Fairfax,  who  had  the  kindness  to  bring  with 
him  a  good  horse,  which  I  was  the  better 
pleased  to  have  because  what  became  of 
the  horse  the  general  would  have  had  me 
have  I  was  never  able  to  hear.  His  lordship 
insisted  that  I  rest  at  Greenway  Court  until 
I  was  more  fit  to  travel.  I  had  here  many 
letters;  one  said  that  I  was  given  up  for 
killed,  and  there  was  come  a  long  story 
about  my  dying  speech.  My  mother  was  in 


282  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

a  sad  worry  about  me,  and  when  she  re 
ceived  my  letter  contradicting  my  death, 
and  that  I  had  never  composed  any  dying 
speech,  she  declared  I  was  always  making 
her  anxious  and  had  no  right  to  distress  her 
by  doing  things  that  gave  her  occasion  to 
think  I  was  dead.  His  lordship  overcame 
my  objections,  and  I  remained  with  him 
at  the  court  several  days,  well  pleased  to  be 
at  rest. 

When  alone  with  Lord  Fairfax,  he 
showed  me  the  affection  and  concern  which, 
like  myself,  he  was  averse  to  displaying  in 
company.  After  I  had  been  made  to  give 
him  a  full  account  of  the  march  and  the  bat 
tle,  he  said :  ' '  You  will  be  wise  to  write  and 
to  say  little  of  what  took  place,  and  to  let 
others  say  what  they  will.  The  men  who, 
having  done  something  worthy  of  praise, 
do  not  incline  to  speak  of  it,  are  sure  to  be 
enough  spoken  of  by  others." 

This  was  much  as  in  any  case  I  inclined 
to  do,  so  that  until  now  I  have  nowhere 
related  this  matter  at  length,  and,  as  to  the 
diary  kept  on  our  march,  the  French  had  it, 
and  I  saved  only  two  or  three  letters. 

What  his  lordship  wrote  of  this  disas 
trous  business  and  of  me  to  his  friends  in 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  283 

London,  I  do  not  know,  but  I  was  soon 
aware  that  both  in  England  and  in  the  colo 
nies  I  was  more  praised  than  I  deserved 
to  be. 

In  1758,  a  second  British  force,  under 
Colonel  Grant,  was  defeated  in  like  man 
ner  as  Braddock  had  been,  but  this  was  at 
the  outworks  of  Fort  Duquesne.  In  No 
vember  of  that  same  year  I  served  under 
General  Forbes  and  saw  once  more  this  dis 
astrous  neighbourhood.  The  hillside  where 
we  suffered  such  disgraceful  and  needless 
defeat  was  a  miserable  sight,  for  there  were 
here  scattered  bits  of  red  uniform  and  the 
bones  of  men  and  horses  bleached  in  the 
sun. 

At  this  time  the  garrison  had  fled,  after 
succeeding  in  part  to  burn  the  fort,  but  no 
great  damage  done.  I  myself  raised  the 
flag  of  his  Majesty  over  the  ruins  which 
had  cost  the  lives  of  so  many  brave  men. 

I  lingered  longer  at  Greenway  Court  than 
was  needful  to  repair  my  broken  health, 
for  what  his  lordship  had  to  say  of  men 
and  of  passing  events  I  found  instructive, 
and  the  counsels  he  gave  to  agree  with  my 
own  disposition. 

I  received  here  a  letter  from  my  mother, 


284  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

entreating  me  not  to  engage  further  in  the 
military  line,  but  giving  no  good  reasons, 
so  that  I  had  to  reply  that  she  should  more 
consider  my  honour  and  what  duty  I  owed 
to  my  country  than  to  grieve  over  what 
might  not  result  in  misfortune,  or  if  it  did, 
was  to  be  accepted  as  better  for  me  than  to 
have  failed  to  be  worthy  of  the  esteem  of 
just  men.  When  I  spoke  of  this  letter  to 
Lord  Fairfax,  he  said  I  had  answered  with 
entire  propriety. 

I  reached  Mount  Vernon,  as  my  diary 
shows,  on  July  26,  at  4  P.M.,  a  poorer  man 
for  my  campaigning,  and,  I  feared,  with  a 
good  constitution  much  impaired. 

Soon  after  I  returned  I  received  several 
letters  congratulating  me  on  my  escape  un 
hurt,  and  expressing  a  general  satisfaction 
that  amidst  so  much  cowardice  and  ill  man 
agement  the  rangers  behaved  with  spirit  and 
courage. 

Among  these  communications  one  which 
afforded  me  more  than  ordinary  pleasure 
was  from  Mr.  Benjamin  Franklin.  Besides 
what  he  found  fit  to  say  of  me,  were  certain 
reflections  which,  at  this  distant  day,  seem 
to  nourish  my  inclination  to  look  forward 
now,  as  he  did  then,  desirous,  as  all  must 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  285 

be,  to  discern  from  the  present  what  the 
future  alone  can  surely  disclose. 

Indeed,  as  I  have  descended  the  vale  of 
life  I  have  had  increasing  need  to  consider 
what  the  years  would  bring  about,  for  to 
endeavour  to  forecast  the  future  is  one  of 
the  duties  of  a  statesman. 

Mr.  Franklin,  when  in  his  last  illness,  said 
to  General  Knox,  who  spoke  of  it  to  Mrs. 
Washington,  that  I  possessed  the  capacity 
to  look  forward  in  a  way  which,  he  said, 
was  one  of  the  forms  of  imagination,  but 
that  I  had  not  the  gift  of  fancy.  I  am  not 
assured  even  now  that  I  fully  understand 
what  he  desired  to  convey  by  this  statement. 

The  letter  which  gave  rise  in  my  mind  to 
these  reflections  contains  one  of  those  light 
statements  which  I  have  never  found  myself 
able  to  employ,  and  which  do  not  assist  me 
to  understand  the  affair  in  hand,  or  to  com 
prehend  any  better  what  is  desired  to  be 
conveyed. 

Philadelphia. 
To  Colonel  George  Washington. 

RESPECTED  SIR:  I  am  the  richer  for  having 
had  the  opportunity  of  making  your  acquain 
tance,  and  I  ought  not  to  conceal  from  you  the 
pleasure  I  have  had  in  learning  of  late  that  your 


286  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

conduct  in  the  humiliating  defeat  of  General 
Braddock  was  such  as  to  be  a  matter  of  just 
pride  to  the  colonies. 

Affairs  with  us,  and  indeed  with  all  the  colo 
nies,  are  in  a  condition  greatly  to  be  deplored. 
We  are,  as  it  appears  to  me,  much  in  the  same 
state  as  a  man  I  knew  who,  having  married  four 
times,  had  as  a  consequence  four  mothers-in-law, 
all  of  whom  were  of  opinion  that  they  had  the 
right  to  meddle  in  his  family  affairs.  These  are, 
for  us,  the  King,  the  Parliament,  the  Lords  of 
Trade,  and  the  Governors.  For  all  of  them  we 
are  a  family  of  bad  little  boys.  We,  on  the  other 
hand,  entertain  the  belief  that  we  are  grown-up 
Englishmen,  who  believe  that  we  inherit  certain 
rights.  Soon  or  late  mischief  will  come  of  it. 
The  eggs  of  trouble  are  slow  to  hatch,  but  they 
do  surely  hatch  soon  or  late  and  are  never 
addled. 

It  would  be  worse  than  folly  to  conceal  from 
you  my  fears  as  to  the  future.  There  are  limi 
tations  to  what  men  like  our  colonists,  accus 
tomed  to  a  large  measure  of  individual  freedom, 
will  endure.  We  seem  to  me  to  have  gone  back 
a  century  and  to  be  at  the  commencement  of  just 
such  a  struggle  with  the  crown  as  then  occurred. 

I  was  interested  in  what  you  said  of  the  great 
coldness  of  a  spring  at  Mount  Vernon.  I  will, 
when  opportunity  serves,  send  you  a  good  ther 
mometer,  when  I  think  you  will  find  that  your 


THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON  287 

wells  have  near  about  what  is  the  average  heat 
of  the  air  for  the  entire  year. 

I  hope  to  hear  from  you  at  your  convenience, 
and,  believe  me,  I  shall  feel  myself  honoured  by 
any  such  mark  of  your  attention,  and  that  I  am, 
with  respect, 

Your  ob'd't  humble  servant, 

Benjamin  Franklin. 

P.  S.    I  venture  to  enclose  one  of  my  almanacs. 

B.  F. 

I  gave  this  almanac  and  the  letter  to  be 
read  to  my  Lord  Fairfax.  He  returned 
them,  saying  that  what  was  said  of  the  way 
of  governing  the  colonies  was  true,  but  that 
Mr.  Franklin  overstated  what  was  to  be 
feared  in  the  future ;  and  as  to  the  almanac, 
damn  the  man 's  little  maxims !  They  smelt 
of  New  England. 


XL 


THIS  account  of  my  youth  I  have  for 
the  present  put  aside  to  be  considered 
later,  whether  to  destroy  it  or  not. 

I  discover  in  writing  these  remembrances 
that  I  have  found  pleasure  in  recalling 
many  small  circumstances  which  I  had  for 
got.  I  also  observe  that,  as  I  have  written 
very  little  but  letters  in  my  life,  the  habit 
of  writing  as  if  for  another's  eyes  than  my 
own  has  prevailed,  without  intention  on  my 
part;  but  this  can  do  no  harm,  seeing  that 
all  this  has  been  set  down  only  in  order  that 
I  may  for  my  own  satisfaction  consider  as 
an  old  man  what  judgment  I  should  pass  on 
my  acts  as  a  young  one. 

As  I  shall  retain  for  a  season  what  I  have 
written,  I  desire  that,  in  case  of  accident 
to  me,  these  pages  should  not  for  a  long  time 
be  allowed  to  come  to  the  general  eye.  The 
letters  left  among  these  leaves  I  intend  to 
restore  to  their  proper  files. 

288 


THE   YOUTH  OF   WASHINGTON  289 

DIARY— DECEMBEK  7,  1799 

RAINY  morning ;  mercury  at  37.  Afternoon 
clear  and  pleasant.  Dined  with  Lord  Fair 
fax  at  Belvoir. 

In  the  evening  felt  somewhat  a  lowness  of 
mind,  and  am  reminded,  as  I  write,  that  I 
have  never  had  the  inclination  to  set  down 
in  my  diary  other  than  practical  matters. 
To  distract  my  thoughts,  I  began  to  run 
over  what  was  wrote  last  year  and  to  con 
sider  of  what  has  passed  since  I  wrote,  and 
of  what  must  be  done  with  what  was  writ 
ten.  My  late  brother  Charles  dying  in  Sep 
tember,  I  am  the  only  male  left  of  the 
second  marriage.  We  are  no  long-lived 
people,  and  when  I  shall  be  called  to  follow 
them  is  known  only  to  the  Giver  of  Life. 
When  the  summons  comes,  I  shall  endea 
vour  to  obey  it  with  a  good  grace. 

I  have  had  much  anxiety  during  the  past 
two  years  concerning  my  country,  and  es 
pecially  as  to  the  indignities  inflicted  on  us 
by  the  French,  and  a  certain  relief  not  to  be 
again  called,  at  my  age,  into  the  field.  I 
may  have  been  too  anxious,  but  a  bystander 
sees  more  of  the  game  than  they  who  are 
playing,  and  I  believe  I  have  had  cause  to 


290  THE  YOUTH  OF  WASHINGTON 

feel  uneasy.  But  the  Ship  of  State  is  afloat, 
or  very  nearly  so,  and,  considering  myself 
as  a  passenger  only,  I  shall  trust  to  Heaven 
and  the  mariners,  whose  duty  it  is  to  steer 
us  into  a  safe  port  of  peace  and  prosperity. 

[The  general  died  on  December  four 
teenth  of  this  year,  seventeen  hundred  and 
ninety-nine.] 


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